Effect of 25-Hydroxycholecalciferol with Different Vitamin D<sub>3</sub> Levels in the Hens Diet in the Rearing Period on Growth Performance, Bone Quality, Egg Production, and Eggshell Quality
Dongdong Li,
Keying Zhang,
Shiping Bai,
Jianping Wang,
Qiufeng Zeng,
Huanwei Peng,
Zuowei Su,
Yue Xuan,
Sharina Qi,
Xuemei Ding
Affiliations
Dongdong Li
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China, Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Keying Zhang
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China, Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Shiping Bai
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China, Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Jianping Wang
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China, Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Qiufeng Zeng
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China, Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Huanwei Peng
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China, Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Zuowei Su
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China, Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Yue Xuan
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China, Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
Sharina Qi
Sichuan Shengdile Village Ecological Food Co., Ltd., Zitong, Mianyang 622150, China
Xuemei Ding
Key Laboratory for Animal Disease-Resistance Nutrition of China, Ministry of Education, Institute of Animal Nutrition, Sichuan Agricultural University, Chengdu 611130, China
A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25-OHD) with different levels of vitamin D3 (VD3) during the rearing period (1–20 weeks) on laying hen performance, bone quality, and eggshell quality. A total of four hundred 1-day-old Lohman pullets were randomly allotted into a 2 × 2 factorial design with 2 levels of dietary VD3 (300 and 2800 IU/kg) and 2 levels of dietary 25-OHD (0 and 56 μg/kg). Each treatment had five replicates of 20 hens each. Increasing the dietary VD3 level (2800 vs. 300 IU/kg) tended to increase body weight uniformity (0.05 p 3 levels and supplementation of 25-OHD during the growing period (1–20 weeks) did not improve the laying performance and eggshell quality (eggshell strength, eggshell thickness, and eggshell relative weight) during the laying period (p > 0.05). Compared with the 300 IU/kg VD3 group, the 2800 IU/kg VD3 group showed higher serum calcium concentration and keel length at 10 weeks (p p 3 level (2800 vs. 300 IU/kg) increased tibia ash and phosphorus content at 10 weeks, tibia strength at 72 weeks (p p p p 3 and 25-OHD during the growing period improved the tibia quality of laying hens during the early and later laying period, but had no effect on laying performance and eggshell quality during the laying period.
