DIETARY EFFECT OF MULBERRY LEAF (Morus alba) MEAL IN THE REDUCTION OF BLOOD CHOLESTEROL OF LAYING HENS

The study was conducted at the poultry farm and Dairy and poultry science laboratory, Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU), Dinajpur district from 18 Jan-18 April, 2011. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of various dietary levels of mulberry (Morus alba) leaf meal on production performance, egg qualities and blood cholesterol of laying hens. In this study, Forty-eight 30-wk-old laying hens (Hi-sex brown) were divided into 4 dietary groups each with 4 replications ( three birds/replication) and offered manually prepared diets supplemented with 0, 3, 6 and 9% mulberry leaf meal for 8 weeks. Eggs were collected and weighted daily. Laying performance, egg quality and feed conversion ratio were evaluated. Results showed that the feed intake, egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed conversion ratio, body weight and egg qualities were insignificant among the treatment groups. The blood cholesterol was found to decrease (P < 0.05) at 3.0, 6.0 and 9.0 % of mulberry leaves inclusion. Likewise, triglyceride was also found to decrease (P < 0.05) at 3.0 to 9.0 % of inclusion. Based on the results, it could be concluded that the supplementation of mulberry leaf meal up to my investigation level (9%) has potentiality in reduction of blood cholesterol.