Evaluation of Australian canola meal for production and egg quality in two layer strains

Abstract

During 1999-2000, canola meal (CM) from Newcastle (Australia) was evaluated at Department of Primary Industries (DPI), Poultry Research and Development Centre for production performance and egg quality in ISA brown and White Supertint birds. During the 14-week experimental period CM gave satisfactory performance in both strains, fed at 100, 150 and 200 g CM/kg with no mortalities occurring. Diets containing 150 and 200 g CM/kg produced fishy odour in fresh eggs only from ISA brown birds. But this taint (odour) was substantially reduced when eggs were stored at 10°C for 2 to 5 weeks. White Supertint layers did not produce 'fishy' eggs at any CM level. Sensory evaluations found no 'fishy' taint in cooked eggs for any strain at any CM level.