Performance of broilers and production and egg quality parameters of laying hens fed 60% raw or treated common vetch (Vicia sativa) seeds

Two experiments were conducted to study the effect of feeding 60% untreated (U) or coarsely ground treated vetch (V) seeds on performance of broilers and laying hens. In Experiment 1, the V seeds were soaked in 1% NaHCO3 (1:1 0) or in 1% acetic acid (1:5) at room temperature for 24 h (RTAA). Birds on the NaHCO3-treated V diet had 100% mortality rate but had significantly lo nger survival time than those on UV (14.9 vs 5.1 d). Birds on RTAA-V surviv ed and had similar BW and feed conversion but greater kidney size than thos e of the controls at 7 wk of age (P < 0.05). In Experiment 2, control, UV, V soaked in water at 40 C (40WV), RTAA-V, and V soaked in acetic acid at 40 C (40AAV) diets were fed to laying hens for 84 d. The ground seeds in RTAA -V and 40AAV were soaked in acetic acid (1:10) at room temperature or at 40 C, respectively, for 24 h. For 40WV, the seeds were soaked in water (1:10) at 40 C for 72 h with a water change every 12 h. The UV-fed hens ceased eg g production within 14 d and had the highest BW loss and the lowest feed in take among all treatments (P < 0.05). The 40WV and 40AAV significantly impr oved these criteria. Moreover, the RTAA-V resulted in performance comparabl e to that of the controls. Eggs produced by hens on treated V diets had sim ilar weight but higher Haugh unit score (11 points), thinner shell, and low er yolk color score than those of the controls (P < 0.05). Results indicate d that RTAA-V at 60% dietary level was not detrimental to broilers and layi ng hens.