Effects of Sorghum Variety on Growth and Subsequent Egg Production in Layers Reared in West Africa

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Effects of Sorghum Variety on Growth and
Subsequent Egg Production in Layers Reared in
West Africa S. Issa1, 2, J. D. Hancock1, M. R.
Tuinstra1, I. Kapran2, and S. Kaka2 1Kansas
State University, Manhattan, and 2National
Institute for Agricultural Research in Niger
(INRAN), Niamey
Introduction
Results
In Niger, locally produced sorghum is generally
less expensive than imported corn and should play
an important role in diets for animals such as
poultry. Yet, poultry producers are fearful of
sorghum-based diets because of misconceptions
about the content and biological activity of
tannins.
Objective
To determine the nutritional value of diets based
on imported corn, a local landrace sorghum, and
an improved sorghum variety in layers.
Procedures
A total of 450 1-d-old layer chicks (Harco
strain with 50 chicks/pen and three
pens/treatment) were used in a 18-month
experiment. Treatments were
-Imported corn -A locally produced
landrace sorghum (Mota Galmi) with red seed,
purple plant, and 0.3 mg of CE/100mg of grain
DM -An agronomically improved variety
(IRAT204) with white seed, tan plant, and no
detectable tannins Feed and water were
consumed on an ad-libitum basis. The
experimental design was a randomized complete
block with orthogonal contrasts used to separate
treatment means.
Conclusions
Layers fed sorghums had greater feed intake and
productivity than those fed diets that were
corn-based. Nigerien poultry producers should
seriously consider the use of local sorghums
rather than imported corn when price allows.