Phytase supplementation of low phosphorous diets included graded levels of rice bran on productive performance of laying hens

Rice bran, a low-price agricultural by-product which tremendously produces in North part of Iran, can be partly replaced in expensive ingredients of poultry diets to reduce production cost. In addition, an alternative method to minimize phosphorous waste via poultry feces could be using low phosphorous-phytase supplemented diets. To investigate effects of phytase supplementation of low phosphorous diets included graded levels of rice bran on productive performance of laying hens and egg quality characteristics, 288 Lohmann LSL-Lite hens after production peak were randomly divided in 48 cages (n=6). Twelve iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous experimental diets (ME=2720 Kcal/Kg and CP = 154.2 g / Kg) including three levels (0, 75 and 150 g/kg) of rice bran with or without phytase (0 and 0.3 g/kg) and two levels of dietary non-phytate phosphorus (0.33 and 0.29 g/kg diet) fed to hens with 4 replicates per diet during 7-week trial period (58-64 weeks of age). In weeks 3 and 7, all produced eggs per each dietary group during three frequent days were collected to measure egg quality traits. During the experiment, feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and egg production (EP) were measured. Collected data of FI, EP and calculated FCR in a 3x2x2 factorial arrangement were analyzed based on completely randomized design using GLM procedure of SAS. The results indicated that dietary inclusion of rice bran decreased. Phytase supplementation increased EP. Dietary inclusion of rice bran increased FI and FCR comparing with control diet. Phytase did not affect on Fl; however improved FCR. Dietary non-phytate phosphorus level did not affect on FI, EP and FCR. From the results of this study, it can be concluded that rice bran can be included in laying hens' diets up to 7.5% with no adverse effects on performance. Decreasing non-phytate phosphorus level of Lohmann LSL-Lite hens' diet up to 0.029% would be beneficial way to minimize environmental pollution and decrease dietary phosphorous expenses with no adverse effect on productive performance and egg quality characteristics.