| The aim of the study was to evaluate mussel meal and starfish meals as protein sources for organic layers by studying the effect on production performance, nutrient digestibility and egg quality. A total of 300 Hisex white laying hens (20-week old) were distributed randomly to 6 dietary treatment groups, each with five replicates, including a control diet providing fish meal, 3 diets providing mussel meal (4, 8 and 12 g/100 g) and 2 diets providing starfish meal (4 and 8 g/100 g). Laying rate, egg mass, feed conversion ratio, mortality and live weight of the hens did not differ among treatments. The egg weight was not different from the egg weights of control diets, but the inclusion of 4 g mussel meal resulted in a lower (P < 0.05) egg weight than 8 g... |
