The Use of Dried Clover in the Diet of Laying Hens

COMPOUNDERS of poultry mashes usually incorporate 5 to 10 percent of dried lucerne or high quality grass meal as a source of certain vitamins and pigments. These materials will also provide proteins, some trace minerals and possibly also an unidentified growth factor (Kohler and Graham, 1951Kohler and Graham, 1952). The value of dried herbage, as opposed to fresh material, is that the vitamins, proteins, etc. are not diluted by 80 to 90 percent of water. They are, however, still diluted by fibrous material which is of lower density (weight per unit of volume) than some other sources of fibre. The grinding of dried herbage to inincrease its density makes it dusty and rather unpalatable. The question therefore arises as to how much dried herbage can be included in a poultry meal without adversely affecting egg production. If egg production is adversely affected another question is whether the fibre content is the responsible . . .