1. This study was conducted to determine the effects of raw and heat-treated hempseed (HHS, Cannabis sativa L.) on performance, egg quality and antioxidant activity in laying hens. 2. A total of 108 laying hens, aged 36 weeks, were divided into three treatment groups with 12 replicates and each replicate contained three laying hens. The treatments were as follows: (1) Control (no hempseed), (2) 15% raw hempseed (RHS) in diet and (3) 15% HHS in the diet. Experiments lasted for 12 weeks. 3. Feed intake of the RHS group was lower than those of the control and HHS groups. Egg weight, egg mass, shell weight, shell surface area and shell thickness of the HHS group were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of the RHS group. Roche (DSM) colour fan values of the RHS group were higher than that of the HHS group (P < 0.01). 4. Palmitic, palmitoleic and oleic acids of egg yolk were significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in the RHS and HHS groups; however, linoleic, α-linolenic and docosahexaenoic acids (DHA) of egg yolk increased (P < 0.05) for both treatment diets compared to the control group. 5. Both RHS and HHS supplementation to layer diets did not influence malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and blood lipid profile. 6. It was concluded that HHS was superior in improving the egg quality of laying hens as compared to the RHS.

Quality attributes of citrus pulp silages that were ensiled alone and combined with maize silage were determined. Fresh samples of lemon, orange and tangerine pulps, maize plants and their combinations were fermented in glass jars for 90 days at about 20 - 25 °C. Treatments included i) 100% maize silage as control (MS); ii) 100% lemon pulp silage (LPS); iii) 100% orange pulp silage (OPS); iv) 100% tangerine pulp silage (TPS); v) 50% LPS and 50% maize silage (LPS + MS); vi) 50% OPS and 50% MS; and vii) 50% TPS and 50% maize silage (TPS + MS). The pH differed among treatment groups. The highest and lowest pH values were recorded for MS group and the OPS + MS group, respectively (3.84 vs. 3.51). The highest dry matter (DM), crude fibre (CF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and hemicellulose (HEM) were observed for MS (P <0.01). Citrus pulp silages alone had significantly greater total digestible nutrients (TDN), organic matter (OM) and non-fibre carbohydrate (NFC) values than MS and the combined silages (P <0.01). Maize silage had higher lactic acid (LA) (101.2 g/kg DM) and acetic acid (AA) (49.3 g/kg DM) concentrations than the citrus groups (P 0.05). Thus, citrus pulps can be ensiled in spite of their moisture content. However, to increased DM and nutrient content, the citrus pulps should be ensiled with 50% maize. Keywords: fermentation metabolites, methane production, organic matter digestibility