REPRODUCTIVE ORGAN DEVELOPMENT OF PULLETS FED DIFFERENT FORMS OF DIET CONTAINING OYSTER MUSHROOM (Pleurotus ostreatus)

Abstract

The prohibition on antibiotic use in animal production has prompted a search for safe, natural alternatives to incorporate into poultry nutrition. A total of 320, fourteen (14) weeks old pullets were divided into four treatments containing 80 birds per treatment which were further sub-divided into 10 replicates of 8 birds each. The study was a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement laid out in a Completely Randomized Design consisting of two feed forms (mash and pellets) and two inclusion levels of oyster mushroom (0 or 1 g/kg). Two birds per replicate were randomly selected and eviscerated to determine the reproductive organ development at 24th week of age. At the 24th weeks, a total of 96 birds (32 birds at each successive week) were slaughtered respectively. Data collected were subjected to One-Way Analysis of Variance. Results showed that at 16 weeks, the birds had not generally developed ovaries, while at 24 weeks, birds on pelletized feed had significantly (p<0.05) higher number of ovaries (7.50) and ovary weight (37.50 g) than those on mash diet. The inclusion of 1 g/kg oyster mushroom did not affect (p>0.05) the reproductive organ development of the birds. The study concluded that feeding layers with pelletized feed improved the reproductive organ development