Udedibie, 1991. Livest. Res. Rural Dev., 3 (3)

Two feeding trials were conducted with laying hens to determine the relative effect of boiling alone and of ensiling with urea followed by boiling of jackbeans and swordbeans, incorporated at levels of up to 20% in the diet. In the first experiment, boiled jackbeans and swordbeans were incorporated in layers' diets at 10% and 20%. In the second experiment, urea-ensiled and boiled jackbeans and swordbeans were incorporated in layers' diets at 10% and 20%. In both experiments, each diet was fed to 5 replicates of 20 layers. The results of the 12 week experiments showed that the optimal dietary level of boiled jackbeans for layers was about 10%. That of boiled swordbean appeared to be less than 10%. Urea-ensiled and boiled jackbeans could be incorporated in layers' diets at up to 20% with good results while swordbeans treated by this method could be included at 10% of the diet.