Effects of dietary cottonseed meal, with and without iron treatment, on laying hens

1. The effects of feeding a screw-press expelled cottonseed meal (CSM) to laying hens at dietary concentrations of up to 300 g/kg, were studied over a 10 week period. 2. The overall performance of hens fed on a 75g CSM/kg diet was not significantly different from controls but a 300g CSM/kg diet, containing 255 mg free gossypol/kg and 87 mg cyclopropenoid fatty acids (CPFA)/kg and giving daily intakes per hen of 26.2 mg free gossypol and 9.0 mg CPFA, significantly reduced food intake (P less than 0.01) and egg production (P less than 0.01). The 150g CSM/kg diet (daily intakes of 14.6 mg free gossypol and 4.8 mg CPFA per hen) did not produce adverse effects initially but egg production was slightly depressed towards the end of the experimental period. 3. Treatment of the CSM with a solution of ferrous sulphate hepta-hydrate for inclusion in a 300g CSM/kg diet (100 mg/kg supplemental dietary iron) further reduced food intake (P less than 0.05) and egg production (P less than 0.05). 4. Storage of eggs at warm temperatures for up to 1 month did not lead to discolourations of any kind in the CSM diet groups, but resulted in yolk mottling, a condition reduced by treatment of the CSM with iron. 5. Storage of eggs at cold temperatures for 3 months resulted in brown yolk discolouration and the initial stages of pink albumen discolouration in the 300g CSM/kg diet group; the brown yolk discolouration was reduced by treatment of the CSM with iron.