Lima et al., 2007. Rev. Bras. Zootec., 36 (5): 1340-1346

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of inclusion of coconut meal (CM) in diets on nutrients digestibility, performance and egg characteristics of commercial laying hens. A total of 150 laying hens, with 76 weeks of age was weighed and allotted to a completely randomized design with five treatments and five replicates of six birds in each experimental unit. Five diets were evaluated, one control, without CM and the others with 5, 10, 15, and 20% of CM. Diets were formulated to be isoprotein and isonitrogenous. Amounts of EE, CF and GE increased with inclusion of CM in diets. A quadratic effect was observed for the inclusion levels of CM on digestibility coefficients for DM, N, GE and the values of apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and N corrected apparent metabolizable energy (AMEn) that reached the maximum at 15% of inclusion. Values of AME and AMEn were higher in diets containing 10, 15, and 20% of CM than that for diet without CM. Egg production, egg weight and egg mass were not affected by the inclusion levels of CM. Feed intake decreased and feed conversion improved as CM level increased in diets. Considering the results of dietary digestible energy, it could be recommended that coconut meal inclusion in the laying hen diet should not exceed the level of 15%.