A 12-week feeding experiment was conducted to study the effects of inclusion of 0 (control; Diet A), 10% (Diet B), 15% (Diet C) and 20% (Diet D) of mulberry leaf meal (Morus alba) in the diet on production performance and egg quality of laying hens. Feeding mulberry leaf meal (MLM) reduced (P<0.05) the feed intake, egg production, egg weight and egg mass. However, feed conversion ratio was not affected (P>0.05). Shell weight and yolk weight were decreased (P<0.01), but shell thickness and albumen weight were not affected (P>0.05). Haugh units increased (P<0.001) as the level of MLM increased. Also, feeding MLM improved (P<0.001) the yolk color when compared with control. The results indicated the possibility of including up to 10% of mulberry leaf meal in diets of egg laying hens without adversely affecting the performance and egg quality.

The current study was conducted to determine the chemical composition of mulberry (Morus alba) leaf meal (MLM) and its nutritive value as a feed ingredient. Fifteen layer and fifteen broiler chickens were used in the digestibility trial. The dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), ash, fat (EE), crude fibre, neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P) and gross energy (GE) content of MLM were analyzed. The precision-feeding technique was applied to feed the birds 30 g/kg DM of MLM. The results showed that MLM contained a high content of CP (29.8%), Ca (2.73%) and NDF (35.77%). Layers and broilers chicken could utilize 73% and 72% of CP, respectively, in MLM. The nutrient digestibility of DM and NDF was higher in layers than in broilers. No significant effect was observed in ME and other nutrient digestibility between the two classes of fowls. In general, the incorporation of MLM into the chickens' diet could be a good source of protein despite its high fibre content.

Twelve male 8-month-old lambs were used in a 6-month feeding experiment to determine the effects of dietary Mo, Mo 1 S and Zn supplements on the body retention and tissue accumulation of dietary Cu, Zn and Fe. The lambs were divided into four groups of three lambs each and each group was fed ad libitum one of four diets. A control diet was based on palm kernel cake (PKC) and grass hay. Three additional diets were the control supplemented with either Mo or Mo 1 S or Zn. At 3 months of the experiment, feces and urine were collected and sampled for 6 days. At the end of the experiment (6 months), blood was sampled and then the sheep were slaughtered. The liver and kidney were removed and sampled for chemical analysis. In comparison with the control, each dietary supplement decreased (P , 0.05) the Cu concentration in the liver, but only the Mo 1 S supplement decreased it to a safe range of below 350 mg/g dry matter. This was accompanied by the body retention of dietary Cu of 24.6%, 6.7%, 2.5% and 6.5% for the control, Mo, Mo 1 S and Zn treatments, respectively. The blood plasma concentration of Cu was decreased (P , 0.05) by the Zn supplement, but was not affected by other supplements (P . 0.05). It was concluded that from the supplements tested, only Mo 1 S appeared to be effective in reducing the retention and liver accumulation of the dietary Cu to prevent chronic Cu toxicity in sheep fed PKC-based diets.