NUTRIENT RETENTION AND PRODUCTION PARAMETERS OF SINGLE COMB WHITE LEGHORN LAYERS FED DIETS WITH VARYING CRUDE PROTEIN-LEVELS AND SUPPLEMENTED WITH DIRECT-FED MICROBIALS

Four hundred and eighty Dekalb XL Single Comb White Leghorn layers (30 weeks of age) were fed five diets for eight 28-day periods in a compl etely randomized split-plot design to determine the effects of feeding Lactobacillus (Lacto) with varied dietary protein levels on the reten tions of fat (ether extract), nitrogen, calcium, and phosphorus, and o n layer performance. The five dietary treatments were 13.8%, 14.3% and 15.3% crude protein (CP) diets each supplemented with 1100 mg Lacto p er kg (4.4 x 10(7) colony forming units) and 15.3% CP diet supplemente d with and without condensed cane molasses solubles (CCMS) which serve d as a carrier for the Lacto in a premix. The CCMS-Lacto premix was in corporated at 2% of the diets. Linear contrasts for hen-day egg produc tion and daily feed consumption were not significant with CCMS-Lacto s upplementation regardless of the dietary protein levels. Layers fed th e 15.3% CP CCMS-Lacto diet laid significantly (P < 0.05) larger size e ggs than those on 15.3% CP CCMS diet. Feed conversion, egg mass, egg w eights and egg size were higher(P < 0.05) for layers fed the 15.3% CP CCMS-Lacto diet than 14.3 and 13.8% CP CCMS-Lacto diets, Interior egg quality and egg shell thickness were not different with layers fed CCM S-Lacto supplementation diets. Egg yolk color scores were highest (P < 0.05) from layers fed CCMS-Lacto diets with 13.8% CP diet. Fat and ph osphorus retentions were higher with CCMS-Lacto supplementation and wi th change in dietary CP levels from 15.3% to 14.3% in CCMS-Lacto suppl emented diets, respectively.