Low Erucic Acid, Low Glucosinolate Rapeseed Meal, with and without Added Gums in the Layer Diet

White Leghorn pullets of two strains were fed 20% of Tower rapeseed meal in the laying diet for one year. The rapeseed meal was manufactured with and without addition of 2% of either Tower or Midas gums. Control birds were fed a soybean meal diet. Each diet was fed to 1018 birds of two commercial lines. Rate of production during a one-year period was similar on all diets. Gums were without effect on any aspect of production. Overall mortality in the experiment was 11.7%, or 6.5% when neoplasms were excluded. There was a strain difference in the rate of mortality which was not due to any single cause. The birds fed the rapeseed meal with Midas gums had the highest mortality. The incidence of haemorrhagic lesions in various tissues was significantly affected by diet, being lowest in the birds fed the soybean meal diet and highest in the birds fed the rapeseed meal with added Midas gums.