Nutritional equivalency evaluation of transgenic maize grain from event DP-O9814O-6 and transgenic soybeans containing event DP-356O43-5: laying hen performance and egg quality measures.

The objective of this study was to compare the nutritional performance of laying hens fed maize grain from event DP-Ø9814Ø-6 (98140; gat4621 and zm-hra genes) and processed soybean meal from soybeans containing event DP-356Ø43-5 (356043; gat4601 and gm-hra genes), individually or in combination, with the performance of hens fed diets containing nontransgenic maize and soybean meal. Healthy pullets (n = 216) placed in cages (3 hens/cage) were randomly assigned to 9 dietary treatments (8 cages/treatment): nontransgenic controls 1, 2, and 3 (comparable genetic background controls for 98140, 356043, and 98140 + 356043, respectively); reference 1, reference 2, and reference 3 (commercially available nontransgenic maize-soybean meal sources); and 98140 (test 1), 356043 (test 2), and 98140 + 356043 (test 3). The experiment was divided into three 4-wk phases (24 to 28 wk, 28 to 32 wk, and 32 to 36 wk of age), during which time hens were fed mash diets. Performance (BW, feed intake, and egg production) and egg quality data were collected. Data were analyzed using a mixed model ANOVA; differences between the control and respective test group means were considered significant at P < 0.05. Data generated from the reference groups were used only in the estimation of experimental variability and in generating the tolerance interval. Body weight and BW gain, egg production, and production efficiency for hens fed the test diets were similar to the respective values for hens fed the corresponding control diets. Haugh unit measures and egg component weights were similar between the respective test and control groups, and no differences were observed in quality grades or crack measures. All observed values of the control and test groups were within the calculated tolerance intervals. This research indicates that the performance and egg quality of hens fed diets containing 98140 maize grain, 356043 soybean meal, or a combination of the 2 was comparable with that of hens fed diets formulated with nontransgenic maize grain or soybean meal control diets with comparable genetic backgrounds.