The effect of partial substitution of corn\ud (-20%) and soybean meal (-10%) with buckwheat\ud bran (+30%) (Fagopyrum esculentum\ud Moench) in the diet of ISA-Brown hens was\ud investigated in sixteen 74-week old hens,\ud housed in couple wire cages and submitted to\ud a 16 h light:8 h dark photoperiod. The following\ud traits were measured: body weight, egg production,\ud egg mass, egg quality, feed intake,\ud feed conversion, comparative palatability of\ud ingredients and digestibility of diet. c\ud 2 and\ud non-parametric tests were used for production\ud rate and yolk color score, respectively. ANOVA\ud was used for all other parameters.\ud Comparative choice of buckwheat, corn and\ud soy was checked under different forms in 3\ud free choice tests. Results show that egg production\ud rate (43.3% vs 50.5%; P<0.05) and feed\ud intake (78.3±0.68 eggs/hen d vs 87.8±0.68\ud eggs/hen d; P<0.05) increased with the partial\ud introduction of buckwheat bran in the diet.\ud There was no difference in feed conversion\ud between treatments. Nutrient balance confirmed\ud that AMEn of diet was deeply lowered by\ud the buckwheat bran use (6.5 MJ/kg vs 10.1\ud MJ/kg), due to the high fibre content of buckwheat\ud bran (263 g/kg). Maize was always the\ud most preferred ingredient, buckwheat bran\ud was consumed more than expected in absence\ud of any preference, and soybean was the food\ud least chosen. Buckwheat bran can be used as\ud an ingredient feed for low-producing laying\ud hens; it induces a feed-intake increase, partially\ud balanced by improved egg-production rates\ud and a tendency to better albumen Haugh units

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