Effect of Adding Dietary Date Pits and β-mannanase on Performance of Local Saudi Hens

Date pits meal, a by-product obtained from date processing, can be used as a feed ingredient in poultry diets. To determine the effects of adding dietary date pits meal with/without β- mannanase on productive performance and egg quality parameters, in iso-energetic and iso-nitrogenous diets in a 3 × 3 factorial experimental design with three levels of date pits meal (0, 5, and 10%) and three levels (0 or 330, 660 g/ton feed) of β- mannanase were fed to a total of 162 local Saudi hens (black feather line, Hajar1) randomly distributed in 54 cages.. Each dietary treatment was fed to nine cages (3 hens/cage) for 8 weeks (25 to 33 weeks of age). The results showed that hen fed diets containing 0 or 5% date pits meal without β-mannanase had better feed conversion ratio, higher egg mass, egg production, and egg specific gravity than those fed diets containing 10% date pits meal. In contrast, hens fed diets containing 10 % date pits meal without β-mannanase showed higher Haugh unit than those fed diets containing 0% date pits meal without β-mannanase. Furthermore, hens fed diets containing 0 % date pits meal with 660 g β-mannanase produced lower egg mass and egg production than those fed diets containing 0% date pits meal with 0 g β-mannanase. Meanwhile, hens fed diets containing 0 % date pits meal with 330 g β-mannanase had higher eggshell thickness than those fed diets containing 5% date pits meal with 330 g β- mannanase or those fed diets containing 10% date pits meal with 330 or 660 g β-mannanase. It is concluded that date pits meal could be added to 25 to 33 weeks old local Saudi hen diets up to 5% without β-mannanase with no negative effects on productive performance and egg quality parameters.