Egg weight and production responses of laying hens fed rice pollard

Concentrations of rice pollard of 85 and 420 g kg^?1 were included in iso-energetic layer diets without any detrimental effect on production. Immediate improvements in egg weight and egg gradings were observed as a result of feeding rice pollard from point-of-lay; these presumably reflected increased dietary concentrations of linoleic acid. Varying responses to the two dietary rice pollard concentrations indicated strain differences in linoleic acid requirements during the early laying period. Rapid reductions in egg weight and egg gradings occurred when the rice pollard was removed at 48 weeks of age, the effect being most noticeable in birds previously fed the high concentration of rice pollard.