# Factors Influencing the Effects of Triticale on Laying Hens' Performance: A Meta-Analysis
## 4 Discussion
### Effects of Triticale Grains, and Triticale and Laying Hens' Strains on Layers' Performance  
The initial findings from our meta-analysis indicate that triticale did not have significant impacts (\(p>0.05\)) on EP, EW, FI, or FCR but consistently decreased (\(p<0.05\)) EYC. These results align with those of [PERSON] et al. [8], who also found that triticale had no significant effects on layers' production parameters (EP, EW, FI, and FCR) but did reduce EYC. The paler yolk color associated with triticale consumption has been attributed to its low carotenoid content [20]. Additionally, some authors [28] have suggested that incorporating triticale into laying hens' diets, either as a primary energy source or as a partial replacement for other cereals, does not significantly affect laying rate, feed conversion ratio, egg mass, or productivity. Conversely, [PERSON] and [PERSON] [13] and [PERSON] and [PERSON] [14] reported that replacing cereals such as wheat and milo with triticale decreased layers' performance. This discrepancy in results may be due to the use of different triticale varieties in various experiments. Older triticale strains were known to contain higher levels of soluble pen \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l l l} \hline \hline
**Items** & **Bias** & **SE** & **t-Value 1** & **df 1** & _p-Value_ \\ \hline
**Egg production** & 0.6967 & 3.3112 & 0.21 & 13 & 0.8366 \\
**Egg weight** & 7.7581 & 3.0787 & 2.52 & 13 & 0.0256 \\
**Feed intake** & 2.7927 & 4.4421 & 0.63 & 13 & 0.5404 \\
**Feed conversion ratio** & \(-0.4714\) & 4.0891 & \(-0.12\) & 12 & 0.9101 \\
**Egg yolk color** & \(-10.1189\) & 2.2244 & \(-4.55\) & 11 & 0.0008 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} \({}^{\dagger}\) df: degree of freedom; t-value: relative difference in units of standard error.  
\end{table} 
Table 6: [PERSON]’s linear regression test for assessing publication bias. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l l l l l l l} \hline \hline \multirow{2}{*}{**Items**} & \multirow{2}{*}{**df 1**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Random Effects Model**} & \multicolumn{3}{c}{**Heterogeneity 2**} \\ \cline{3-7}  & & **Effect Size** & _p-Value_ & **Q (_p-Value_)** & **I2 (\%)** & \(\mathbf{\tau^{2}}\) \\ \hline
**Egg production** & 16 & 0.0069 & 0.9723 & 200.69 (\(<\)0.0001) & 92.0 & 0.6022 \\
**Egg weight** & 17 & 0.2126 & 0.8561 & 726.42 (\(<\)0.0001) & 97.7 & 24.3241 \\
**Feed intake** & 15 & 0.3401 & 0.4675 & 479.96 (\(<\)0.0001) & 96.9 & 3.4058 \\
**Feed conversion** & 13 & \(-0.1494\) & 0.6082 & 224.88 (\(<\)0.0001) & 94.2 & 1.1131 \\
**Fag yolk color** & 18 & \(-3.2429\) & 0.0872 & 1236.58 (\(<\)0.0001) & 98.5 & 67.1063 \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular} \({}^{\dagger}\) df: degree of freedom. 2 \({}^{\dagger}\) I2: Higgins statistic; Q: \(\chi^{2}\) statistics; \(\mathbf{\tau^{2}}\): heterogeneity variance of the true effect sizes.  
\end{table} 
Table 7: The trimmed effect size of triticale percentage on laying hens’ performance. tosans [30; 31], trypsin inhibitors, alkyl resocrinols, and pectins [32]. These anti-nutritional components have been reported to reduce the feed intake in laying hens' diets because of their low palatability [8]. Moreover, they could reduce nutrient availability by increasing the viscosity of feed content and therefore decreasing the bird's performance [8]. Thus, studies reporting the negative effects of trtictale on laying hens' production parameters likely used these older trtictale varieties, as they were conducted before 1990 [13; 14]. The non-significant impact of trtictale on layers' performance could be attributed to the use of trtictale varieties characterized by lower levels of anti-nutritional factors. [PERSON] [33] and [PERSON] et al. [34] have emphasized new trtictale varieties with reduced anti-nutritional factors, improving yield and nutritive value. The variation in anti-nutritional factors' concentrations among different trtictale strains may also explain the significant differences observed in the results of the meta-ANOVA or sub-group analysis based on trtictale strains.