2. Materials and methods
Wood (oak) charcoal used in the current experiments as a feed ingredient (for growth studies) or a supplement (for a layer study) was obtained from a local market and ground through a mill to pass a 1 mm sieve prior to the diet preparation for thoroughly mixing in the feed. As ground, it contained 941 g DM/kg, 145 g ash/kg, 757 g CF/kg, 21.6 g CP/kg, 10.8 g EE/kg with the assumption that AME was zero.