The use of rapeseed meals and a mustard seed meal as a protein source in diets for laying pullets

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Abstract
Experiments (3) with laying pullets were carried out in which rapeseed meals (Brassica napus and B. campestris) and a mustardseed meal (B. juncea) formed 12% of the diet. Dietary rapeseed had no effect on the onset of lay when fed from 17 wk of age but caused a delay when fed from 10 wk of age: changing to a control soybean diet for the laying period resulted in normal egg production. Diets containing B. napus but not B. campestris consistently depressed egg production and reduced egg weight in 1 experiment. Mustardseed meal did not affect performance. Significant number of eggs with a fishy taint were laid by brown-egged birds fed on a diet containing rapeseed. Thyroids of birds fed on rapeseed meal diets during the laying period were significantly heavier than those of birds fed on diets containing mustardseed or soybean. The enlargement of the thyroid gland is probably related to the oxazolidinethione [OZT] content of the rapeseed. [Diets containing seed meals of B. napus with a high OZT content can also significantly increase mortality and reduce egg production.].