PRODUCTIVITY OF LAYING PULLETS FED DIETS CONTAINING YELLOW PEAS (PISUM-SATIVUM L VAR MIRANDA)

An experiment was conducted with 768 Dekalb XL Single Comb White Legho rn pullets from 22 to 58 weeks of age to determine their productivity when fed com:soya-bean diets containing 0, 14.8, 29.6, 44.5, and 59% y ellow pea (YP; Pisum sativum L. var. Miranda) for nine consecutive 28 day periods. The com:soya-bean meal (0% YP) and 44.5% YP diets were su pplemented with meat and bone meal (MB) and herring meal (HM) to deter mine the effects of these feed ingredients on layer productivity. Thin ner egg shells (P less-than-or-equal-to 0.05) were observed from layer s fed the 59% YP diet than from layers fed either the com:soya-bean me al or the 14.8, 29.6, or 44.5% YP diets. Decreased yolk color (P less- than-or-equal-to 0.05) was observed from layers fed the YP diets compa red with layers receiving the com:soya-bean meal diet. Hen-day egg pro duction, feed conversion, daily feed consumption, egg mass, egg size ( large and over), egg weight, mortality rate, and interior egg quality were not affected (P greater-than-or-equal-to 0.05) by the levels of Y P or the supplementation of YP diets with HM or MB. Under the conditio ns of this experiment, Miranda YP can be incorporated at levels of up to 44.5% in laying feeds provided the diets are supplemented with adeq uate levels of methionine and fat to meet the requirements of the layi ng pullet.