Increasing the digestibility of nutrients by hens of parent herd when using compound feed with amaranth presscake
Authors:   Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Volgograd State Agrarian University”, Russia, Volgograd, Doskach E. S. , Karapetyan A. K. ,   Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Volgograd State Agrarian University”, Russia, Volgograd, Nikolaev S. I. ,   Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Volgograd State Agrarian University”, Russia, Volgograd, Chekhranova S. V. ,   Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Volgograd State Agrarian University”, Russia, Volgograd, Danilenko Yu. ,   Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Volgograd State Agrarian University”, Russia, Volgograd, Shkalenko V. V. ,   Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Volgograd State Agrarian University”, Russia, Volgograd, Morozova Е. A. ,   Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Education “Volgograd State Agrarian University”, Russia, Volgograd
Published: February 2025

The purpose of the research was to study the digestibility of nutrients and zootechnical indicators
of young hens of the parent herd when input different levels of amaranth presscake into the diet.
The research was carried out at the enterprise Svetly in the Svetloyarsky district of the Volgograd region.
During the scientifi c and economic experiment on the population of young hens of the parent herd four
groups were formed according to the analogue principle per 100 day-old chicks in each. The chickens were
placed in battery cages manufactured by Big Dutchman throughout the experiment, starting from the age
of one day and until they reached 150 days of age. The conditions of housing and feeding for the experimental
groups of chickens were completely identical and corresponded to zoo and hygienic standards. The
difference was in the feeding diet of the chickens. The control group received the main diet with sunfl wer presscake. The input of sunflower presscake into the compound feed varied depending on the age of the chickens. Thus, from 1 to 7 weeks of rearing 7.0 % was input, 10.0 % from the 8th to the 14th week, and
15.0 % of sunfl ower presscake was input from the 15th week of rearing and up to 2–5 % egg production.
In the composition of the compound feed for young hens of the 1st experimental group 50 % of the sunfl
ower presscake was replaced with amaranth presscake, in the 2nd experimental group 75 %, and in the
3rd experimental group 100 % of the sunfl ower presscake was completely replaced with amaranth presscake.
The tested compound feeds for young hens corresponded to the generally accepted feeding standards
in terms of energy and nutritional value. Feeding amaranth presscake as part of the diet to young
hens increased the digestibility of dry matter by 0.61–1.48 abs.%, organic matter by 0.67–1.71 abs.%,
crude protein by 0.49–1.42 abs.%, crude fi ber by 0.30–0.94 abs.%, crude fat by 0.50–1.78 abs.%. The
utilization of nitrogen from the intake was higher in the experimental groups of hens compared to the
control group by 0.47–1.36 abs.%, calcium by 0.50–1.31 abs.%, phosphorus by 0.14–1.00 abs.%. At the
end of the experiment, the hens of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd experimental groups had a live weight greater
than that of the control group by 11.89 g, 65.09 and 48.36 g, respectively. The intake of compound feed in all experimental groups was the same and amounted to 6.02 kg per head. The cost of compound feed in
the 1st, 2nd and 3rd experimental groups was lower by 0.03 kg, 0.14 and 0.08 kg, respectively, compared
to the control group. The replacement of sunflower presscake with amaranth presscake in the compound
feed had a positive effect on the digestibility of nutrients and zootechnical indicators of young hens of the parent herd.