In an experiment to determine the effect of feeding varying levels of Water Hyacinth Meal (WHM) supplemented with and without exogenous enzymes (Maxigrain ) on the gut morphology, meat yield and sensory properties of laying hens, a total of 216 laying hens aged 24 weeks and 4 weeks in lay were used. Six experimental diets were formulated based on the Completely Randomized Design model using a 2 x 3 factorial arrangement made up of two levels of enzyme (No enzyme, With enzyme) and three dietary inclusion levels of WHM (0, 10 and 20 %). At the end of the feeding trial, two birds per replicate were randomly selected, kept off feed for 12 hours, slaughtered, defeathered, eviscerated and dressed. The meat of the breast and thigh of each replicate sample were then selected for sensory evaluation. All parameters were expressed as percentage of live weight. Results showed that there were no significant (p>0.05) differences in live weight (LW), slaughter weight (SW), defeathered weight (DW), eviscerated weight (EWT) and dressed weight (DW) between birds fed diets supplemented with exogenous enzymes and those without exogenous enzyme supplementation; and between birds fed the varying dietary inclusion levels of WHM (0, 10 and 20 %). Also, there were no significant (p>0.05) differences in the weight of the head, neck, breast, back, thigh, drumsticks, wings and shanks between the birds fed diets supplemented with exogenous enzymes and those without exogenous enzyme supplementation; and between the birds fed the varying dietary inclusion levels of WHM (0, 10 and 20 %). Of all the internal organs assessed, only the gizzard weight was significantly (p<0.05) higher for the non-enzyme-supplemented diets than for the enzyme-supplemented diets. There were no significant (p>0.05) differences in appearance, flavour, juiciness, tenderness and overall acceptability between the meat of birds fed diets supplemented with exogenous enzymes and those without exogenous enzyme supplementation; but the meat of birds fed 10 and 20 % dietary inclusion levels of WHM had significantly (p<0.05) higher scores for tenderness and general acceptability than the meat of birds fed the 0 % dietary inclusion level of WHM. Hence, WHM can be included up to 20 % in layer diets for optimal meat yield, gut morphology and sensory properties.
