## 4 Discussion  
This study illustrated that recycled food waste is a promising ingredient for poultry feed that can meet all the requirements of hens and, if suitable waste streams are available, provide whole diets for laying hens that meet their needs throughout production. Food waste-based diets had higher levels of energy, crude protein, and fat compared to the control diets. Furthermore, hens offered the food waste-based diets had higher energy digestibility compared to those offered the control diets. These are likely the reasons for the higher feed efficiency in hens offered food waste-based diets compared to their control counterparts in this study. The results of this study are supported by previous findings [52,53]. In addition, it may be worth noting that current diet-formulation practice feeds birds as if they are strictly granivores, neglecting the fact that they are actually omnivores [54]. Thus, modern poultry nutrition typically relies on grain-based diets. Food waste-based diets may allow \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l l l l} \hline \hline
**Variable** & **Control** & **Food Waste** & **50:50 Blend** & **SEM** & \(p\)**-Value** \\ \hline Ash (\%) & 44.4 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 50.3 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 48.8 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 0.57 & \textless{}0.001 \\ Length (mm) & 90.0 \({}^{\text{b}}\) & 88.0 \({}^{\text{a}}\) & 89.5 \({}^{\text{ab}}\) & 0.32 & 0.024 \\ Diameter (mm) & 8.64 & 8.60 & 8.52 & 0.04 & 0.448 \\ Seedor index (mg/mm) & 74.7 & 72.3 & 72.8 & 0.85 & 0.483 \\ Breaking strength (N) & 285 & 302 & 324 & 8.33 & 0.170 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} \({}^{\text{a}}\)  
\({}^{\text{b}}\) Means within rows not sharing a common suffix were significantly different at the 5\(\%\) level of probability.  
\({}^{\text{c}}\) Relative tibia and femur weights were calculated as per unit of body weight. \({}^{\text{d}}\) Bone ash was expressed as a percentage of oven-dry bone (\(\%\)). \({}^{\text{d}}\) Bone length, diameter, and breaking strength were measured on air-dry bones.  
\({}^{\text{d}}\) Bone Seedor index was calculated as the weight of oven-dry bone divided by the bone length (mg/mm).  
\end{table} 
Table 10: _Cont._optimization of the genetic potential of birds as omnivores, as shown by the results of this study. With the opportunities that food waste provides, there are several aspects that are yet to be further refined. For example, several food waste streams, such as pub and restaurant meal and hospital and nursing home meal, may be highly variable in relation to practical commercial use. However, this issue can be attenuated by focusing on more reliable waste streams that are available in large quantities and by investing in an NIR calibration for valuable waste stream sources. Furthermore, it is recommended that the digestibility and availability of nutrients within key waste streams should be evaluated to ensure accurate diet formulation. Nevertheless, this study demonstrates that food waste is a suitable feedstuff and, with some further research input, such as investment into NIR calibrations allowing the rapid determination of nutrient content to combat any variability issues, would likely become a preferable ingredient compared to traditional foodstuffs in the future with its reduced cost and high nutrient value. As the food waste-based diets were rather energy-dense, it is understandable that the total ileal digestible energy level was increased in hens fed the food waste-based diets compared to hens offered the control diets in this study. Additionally, the higher apparent ileal energy digestibility in hens offered the food waste-based diets compared to the control groups may be attributed to the lower fiber and non-starch-polysaccharide (NSP) levels in food waste diets compared to the control diets at week 63 in the current study.