A Comparison of Glandless and Regular Cottonseed Meals for Laying Hens

A comparison of glandless cottonseed meal (GCSM) with a regular meal (RCSM) was carried out in a 336-day laying hen study using 5, 10, and 15% of each in the diet. Egg production (hen-day) rates obtained with these meals at dietary levels up to 10% were comparable to those of birds fed the soybean meal basal diet. The GCSM caused a decrease in production rate when fed at 15%. Egg mass output (grams egg/bird/day) was not adversely affected by any of the dietary treatments employed. Apparent lysine availabilities, evaluated with laying hens, were 62.1% for GCSM and 49.7% for RCSM, and true availabilities were 81.9 and 71.7%, respectively. Metabolizable energy contents of the two meals were similar with true metabolizable energy values of 3.04 and 2.81 kcal/g, apparent metabolizable energy values of 2.02 and 2.04 kcal/g and free gossypol levels of .012 and .039% GCSM and RCSM, respectively. No yolk discolorations were found in stored eggs from GCSM-fed birds. The 15% RCSM caused yolk discoloration in 72.5% of the stored eggs. The low residual oil in GCSM (.9% as compared to 1.7% for RCSM) was not sufficient to cause significant changes in yolk fatty acids. Total yolk saturated fatty acids increased from 38.43% for the basal diet to 47.49% with the inclusion of 15% RCSM.