International Journal of Poultry Science 3 (7): 490-496, 2004 © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2004 490 The Effect of Incorporating Different Levels of Locally Produced Canola Seeds (Brassica napus, L.) In the Diet of Laying Hen Huthail Najib * and Suliaman A. Al-Khateeb 1 2 Department of Animal Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences and Food, 1 King Faisal University, P.O. Box 420, Al-Hofuf 31982, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Department of Crop Sciences, College of Agricultural Sciences and Food, 2 King Faisal University, P.O. Box 420, Al-Hofuf 31982, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia E-mail: hnajib@kfu.edu.sa Abstract: Research in King Faisal University proved that canola seeds can be successfully planted in Al- Hassa area of Saudi Arabia. The objectives of this study were to determine the chemical analysis and metabolizable energy of a locally produced full fat canola seeds (LPFFCS). Also to determine the possibility of using locally produced canola seeds in the layer diet. The chemical analysis of the seeds showed that it contained 95.4% DM, 25.6% CP, 38.2% EE, 4% ash and 6.8% CF. ME, calculated from the determined TME showed a 4128 Kcal/kg value. Essential and non-essential amino acids were also determined as well as Na, Cl, Ca, P, Cu. Zn and Fe. It was concluded that with the exception of protein level canola seeds are very much similar to SBM in many aspects. Five levels of whole canola seeds; 0, 5, 10, 20 and 30% were used in the diets of 100 white leghorn pullets at age of 20 weeks. The results of this experiment showed that including up to 10% whole canola in the layer diet made no harm to the performance of these birds in terms of hen-day egg production, egg mass, feed conversion and egg weight. Feed intake increased with increasing level of canola seeds in the diet. However most of these differences were season dependent. Hen-day production, egg mass and egg weight were very much lower when birds fed 30% canola. The highest production rate was found in the fall season when birds fed 5 and 10% canola seeds (90 and 88%, respectively). No specific trend was observed on the effect of canola on egg specific gravity and yolk index. However, haugh unit was higher, yolk color was darker, weight gain was lower in birds fed 30% canola seeds. It was concluded that incorporating up to 5% LPFFCS in the layer diet might benefit the producer if economically priced. Key words: Canola seeds, laying hen, egg production Introduction Corn and Soybean are considered the most valuable ingredients in Poultry rations when energy and protein are concerned. However, these grains are not grown in Saudi Arabia due to the unfavorable weather conditions, therefore, they are imported from different countries and that usually is subjected to the laws of international trade. The most efficient substitute for these ingredients has not been established yet and the reason that any of the ingredients used as a substitute in tens of research studies was either badly performed or economically not feasible to use. Several ingredients have been tested such as date as a substitute for corn in the layer ration (Najib et al., 1994) and Salicornia as a substitute for SBM in the poultry diet (Glenn, 1994; Al-Batshan et al., 2001). Canola is a winter crop that is widely grown around the world. There was an increase demands for the oil of this crop which necessitated the increase in production especially in the industrial countries like US and Canada where soybean production is not suitable. However, countries, known for their harsh environment like Saudi Arabia and Egypt are also able to plant the canola. Canola was originally derived from rapeseed varieties, it’s component have been altered through genetic selection which markedly reduced it’s detrimental components, erucic acid and the glucosinolates to a negligible level and to less than 20 μg/g, (Leeson and Summers, 2001). These levels are low enough to be of little or no harm to poultry. Other toxins such as tannin, sinapine may also cause some problems if present in high level such in case of sinapine may cause a fishy odor in some brown egg birds (Leeson and Summers, 2001). This fishy flavor may be due to the trimethylamine that resulted from the degradation of sinapine in the intestinal tract, the authors further added. Some of today’s brown layers lack the ability to produce trimethylamine oxidase, an enzyme able to degrade the trimethylamine, which resulted in depositing it into the egg. Full-Fat Canola Seeds (FFCS) are not normally used as feedstuff for poultry due mainly to the pricing of edible oil. However, with 40% fat and 20% protein (Summers and Leeson, 1985) it could be an alternative source of energy and protein for poultry when it is economically priced. Research in the area of its use as feedstuff has been