Substituting maize with blends of Solanum tuberosum chips and Ensete ventricosum corm on egg production and quality in Bovans Brown

The experiment was conducted in the Sodo district of the Gurage zone, in the central highlands of Ethiopia, to ascertain the effects of substituting enset ( Ensete ventricosum ) corm and potato ( Solanum tuberosum ) chips for corn on the quantity and quality of eggs laid by Bovans brown layers. A total of 132 Bovans brown layers aged 24 weeks were used in the investigation. All 132 of the Bovans brown layers in the study were 24 weeks old. In place of maize grain, the layers were fed feed that contained 0% (T1), 15% (T2), 30% (T3), and 45% (T4) of a potato chip and enset corm mixture. The trial was totally randomized and comprised four treatments. With 11 birds apiece, each treatment was carried out three times. A 12-week experiment was conducted. Hens were weighed at the start and end of the trial. Dry matter intake, hen-day egg production (HDEP), egg weight, and egg mass were all tracked daily. Every 15 days, four eggs per replicate were evaluated for four different egg quality metrics (egg shell weight and thickness, albumen weight and height, Haugh unit and yolk weight, and color). Mix of potato chips and enset corms with 3568 kcal/kg DM, 4.28% CP, 0.17% ether extract, and 2.40% crude fiber. The average daily increases of T1 (2.08g), T4 (1.99g), and T3 (1.85g) were comparable and significantly larger (P 0.05) than T3 (1.28g). The egg mass and feed conversion ratios among treatments were statistically comparable (P < 0.05). T1's (81.08%) HDEP was equivalent to and significantly (P 0.05) higher than T3 (84.07%), T4 (83.61%), and T2 (83.34%). Compared to T1 and T3, T4 showed a higher eggshell weight (P 0.05). As a result, enset corm and potato chips can be combined to substitute maize in layer rations when it is scarce in enset and potato-growing regions.