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Abstract
1. One hundred and twenty 16‐week‐old single combed pullets of three strains were fed on a diet containing 135 g protein/kg with or without 50 g clinoptilolite/kg in a trial with 20 hens per treatment. Sterile river sand replaced clinoptilolite in the control diet in order to keep the diets isoenergetic. The hens were individually caged in a naturally ventilated laying house and fed one of the two diets for ten 28‐d periods.
2. Significant dietary effects of feeding clinoptilolite were observed with number of eggs laid per hen, shell thickness, efficiency of food utilisation and droppings moisture content. No significant dietary effects between treatments were observed with body weight, age at first egg, egg weight, Haugh units, food intake/hen and rate of amino acid absorption of radioactive lysine and methionine into the bloodstream. Significant differences between strains were observed with regard to all parameters except food intake/hen. There were no significant strain × clinoptilolite interactions.
