S. Panigrahi et Ve. Plumb, EFFECTS ON DIETARY PHOSPHORUS OF TREATING COTTONSEED MEAL WITH CRYSTALLINE FERROUS SULFATE FOR THE PREVENTION OF BROWN YOLK DISCOLORATION, British Poultry Science, 37(2), 1996, pp. 403-411
1. Two experiments were carried out to examine whether the adverse eff
ects on laying hen performance of treating cottonseed meal (CSM) with
crystalline ferrous sulphate heptahydrate (FSH) to prevent brown yolk
discolouration, was a consequence of iron reducing the availability of
dietary phosphorus. Two batches of CSM, with different free gossypol
and cyclopropenoid fatty acid contents, were treated with FSH at a 4:1
weight ratio of iron to free gossypol, and incorporated into diets at
300 g/kg with or without supplementation with sodium dihydrogen phosp
hate (SHP), and fed to hens. 2. FSH treatment of CSM reduced food inta
ke and egg production. Although performance was improved by supplement
ing the FSH-treated CSM diets with SHP, it was still, poorer than that
achieved by hens fed a non-CSM control diet. 3. Brown yolk discoloura
tion was prevented by treatment of CSM with FSH. Additional phosphorus
did not produce any significant effects on brown colour development i
n yolks, indicating that the bioavailable gossypol content of the diet
s had not been altered; however, chemical analyses showed an apparent
increase in the free gossypol content of the diets with the inclusion
of SHP, suggesting that the assay gives misleading results.