Abstract
One hundred and ninety-eight Harco pullets (8 weeks old) were fed diets containing 0, 32.5, or 65% of maize-milling waste (MMW), with or without 5% molasses, to replace 0, 50, or 100%, respectively, of dietary maize (65%) in the control diet during a 14-week trial period. There was an increase in daily feed intake with an increase in the dietary level of MMW (P < 0.05). There was no significant effect of dietary molasses on feed intake (P > 0.05). There was also no significant effect of dietary treatments on daily weight gain or feed to gain ratio. There was no significant interaction between dietary MMW and molasses on any of the performance parameters. While there was no significant effect of the dietary treatments on protein and fat retention and rate of food passage through the gastrointestinal tract (P > 0.05), increasing the dietary level of MMW reduced the metabolizable energy value of diets (P < 0.05). There was a significant interaction (P < 0.05) between dietary MMW and molasses on crude fibre retention. There was no significant effect of the dietary treatments on age at first egg, body weight at first laying, or weight of first egg (P > 0.05). It is concluded that MMW could replace all the maize (65%) in pullet diets without detrimental effect on performance and early lay characteristics.
