FEEDING FREQUENCY AND DENSITY OF MICROALGAE PASTE (CHLORELLA VULGARIS) IN THE DIET OF DEKALB UNDER BATTERY CAGE SYSTEM

Poultry products are the major source of animal protein for most people throughout the world and egg production is the major index of performance of commercial layer business and the avenue in the potential increase ofincome from the enterprise which focuses onegg yield, weight of eggs, and increasing their quality production to enhance economic performance.Microalgae is certainly an interesting solution, it aims to increase its value as an animal feed additive in new commercial applications. The experimental research was used in this study to evaluate the laying performance and egg quality of DeKalb under two feeding regimen such as feeding density andfrequency of microalgae paste Chlorella vulgaris under battery type cage system. The experiment was conducted in acompletely randomized designwith a period of 30 days with 81 Dekalb of the same age. The experimental diet used were commercial feeds,microalgae paste and feeding frequencies of 4 times, 3 times and 2 times.Egg characteristics such as total number of eggs, egg weight (g), egg length (mm), egg width (mm) and shape index (%) were computed based on the data from feeding frequency and density. The costs of feeds and price of grown Dekalb and some material used were used in the computation of return on investment. Based on the result, the effect on the external quality of eggs fed under different feeding densities and frequencies on egg production, egg width, egg weight, egg length and shape index resulted to not significantthe null hypothesis was accepted. The internal quality, the effect of different feeding densities on albumen height, albumen weight and yolk width also statistically not significant. Supplementation of microalgae Chlorella vulgaris on hen diet can be included as a dietary supplement for laying hens up to 80% of the diet to produce quality eggs.