Effect of papaya (Carica papaya) seed as phytogenic feed additives on egg performance, egg quality and blood serum biochemical constituents of layer hens

Abstract

Abstract Background Supplementing poultry diets with certain natural phytogenic additives has positive impacts on performance parameters like feed intake, egg production and quality of layer hens. Objectives The study aimed to examine how supplementing papaya seed as phytogenic feed additive (PFA) to the diets of layer chickens affected their egg production, quality and blood serum biochemical parameters. Methods One hundred twenty 28‐week‐old Bovans brown laying hens were randomly assigned to one of four treatments with varying levels of papaya seed supplementation at 0 g/kg (T1), 5 g/kg (T2), 10 g/kg (T3) and 15 g/kg (T4) in a complete randomized design. Result Layer chickens supplemented with 0.5% (T2), 1% (T3) and 1.5% (T4) papaya seed as a PFA had significantly (p 0.05) in serum albumin, glucose, total cholesterol, triglyceride and aspartate aminotransferase levels among treatments laying hens. Conclusion Papaya seed can be a potential candidate as a PFA at 5–15 g/kg of the basal diet to improve egg‐laying performance and quality without deteriorating effect.

Keywords

• egg production
• egg quality
• layer chickens
• papaya seed phytogenic feed additive
• serum biochemical