Dioscorea alata (Water Yam) as a Replacement for Maize in Diets for Laying Hens

One hundred and twenty-six point-of-lay birds were randomly alloted into six groups of 21 birds each and fed six diets containing 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40% or 50% of Dioscorea alata meal as a replacement for maize, corresponding to 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80% and 100% maize replacement. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in feed intake, egg weight or feed efficiency between the control diet and the test diets. However, the daily egg production per 100 birds (hen day production), differed significantly (p<0.05) among the treatments. The birds on the control diet and diets with substitution rates of up to 80% laid significantly (p<0.05) more eggs than those on the 100% substitution rate. This shows that D. alata can replace up to 80% of maize or constitute 40% of a laying chicken diet, provided the rations are isocaloric and isonitrogenous. For this to be achieved, more soybean and/or more fish scraps, and more palm oil are needed in the diets containing D. alata than in diets based on maize.