EFFECT OF REPLACEMENT OF SOYBEAN MEAL WITH DRIED DISTILLERY YEAST SLUDGE ON PERFORMANCE, IMMUNITY AND GUT HEALTH OF LAYER PULLETS

Abstract

Present study was conducted to determine impact of dried distillery yeast sludge (DYS) on performance, immunity and gut health of layer pullets with replacement of soybean meal. Eight weeks old 500 layer pullets were selected randomly and divided into 5 major treatment groups, each group comprising 4 replicates having 25 pullets in each replicate. The DYS dried and ground to mesh size of 2 mm in hammer mill. Five isocaloric and isonitrogeneous diets viz., control, DYS5, DYS10, DYS15, and DYS20 were formulated to contain DYS 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 %, respectively, replacing soybean meal. The pullets fed ad libitum for 8 weeks. Feed intake was highest (P<0.05) in pullets fed control diet and lowest (P<0.05) in pullets fed DYS20 diet. The weight gain was higher (P<0.05) in the pullets fed DYS5, DYS10 and control diet than those fed DYS20 diet. Feed conversion ratio was better in pullets fed control, DYS5 and DYS10 diet than those fed DYS20. There was decrease (P<0.05) in lactobacillus count with the increasing dietary level of DYS. Highest immune response was observed in pullets fed control diet followed by pullets fed DYS5, DYS10, DYS15 and DYS20 diet. The study revealed that DYS can be included in the diet of layer pullets up to 10% having no ill effect.