EVALUATION OF HULLESS BARLEY AS REPLACEMENT FOR WHEAT OR CONVENTIONAL BARLEY IN LAYING HEN DIETS

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Hulless barley (var. Scout) was evaluated as a potential feedstuff for laying hens in two experiments. In exp. 1 hulless barley was substituted for wheat at four dietary levels (20, 40, 60 or 80%) and in exp. 2 hulless or conventional barley was substituted for wheat at two dietary levels (35.7 or 71.4%). Increasing dietary hulless barley had no effect on egg production or body weight in exp. 1 while feed consumption and feed conversion were significantly lower and egg weight and specific gravity significantly higher. In exp. 2, addition of hulless barley increased hen-day production and decreased egg specific gravity in comparison to hens fed a wheat diet. At the 35.7% dietary inclusion level, hulless barley resulted in more eggs with higher specific gravity than for hens fed conventional barley. Hens fed 71.4% hulless barley were heavier and produced larger eggs than hens fed the same level of conventional barley. It may be concluded that hulless barley was at least equivalent to wheat and surpassed conventional barley as a cereal grain for laying hens. Key words: Laying hens, hulless barley, barley