Influence of substituting dietary soybean meal for dehulled-micronized lupin (Lupinus albus cv. Multitalia) on early phase laying hens production and egg quality

This study was designed to determine the effects on laying performance and egg quality resulting from substitution of soybean meal with dehulled-micronized lupin (Lupinus albus cv. Multitalia) in diet of early phase laying hens. Isa Brown layers, 18 weeks of age were randomly allocated to 2 dietary treatments and fed for 10 weeks. Two different durum wheat middlings-based diets were prepared; one containing soybean meal (150 g/kg) and the other dehulled-micronized lupin (180 g/kg) as the main protein sources. Feed consumption was recorded daily and egg production was calculated on a hen-day basis; eggs from each group were weekly collected to evaluate egg components and shell quality. A significant effect was found for feed intake (P < 0.05) which was lower in layers fed diet containing lupin compared to those fed soybean meal, without however any negative effects on feed efficiency (P < 0.10). Egg production and none of egg quality traits examined were influenced by dietary treatment, except for yolk color score that was higher in hens fed the lupin diet (P < 0.05) and percentage of albumen higher for lupin diet (P < 0.05). These findings indicate that dehulled-micronized lupin results a suitable feed ingredient for early phase laying hens that can be satisfactory substituted to conventional protein source such as soybean meal.