AbstractTwo hundred and eighty‐eight laying hens (144 Hisex white, 144 Hisex brown) were randomly allocated to one of twelve dietary treatments and fedad libitumfor ten 28 day periods. The diets, fed either as mash or pelleted, were a control diet and five other diets with increasing levels of added cassava root meal (100, 200, 300, 400, 500 g kg−1diet). At the end of the experiment, four Hisex white birds from each treatment were taken for the measurement of water intake. The AME content of the diets was measured by the total collection method. The inclusion of high levels of cassava root meal had no detrimental effect on egg production or food intake. However, as the level of cassava increased, there was a tendency towards a decrease in food consumption in the meal‐fed birds. Water consumption was significantly greater in the birds given pelleted feed than in those given mash. Also, at the higher levels of cassava inclusion in the meal‐fed birds, water consumption was greater. The AME content of the cassava root meal was 14.1 MJ kg−1d