Production performance, egg quality, and small intestine histomorphology of the laying hens supplemented with phytogenic feed additive

Abstract

Summary: An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of a phytogenic compound (Alquernat Nebsui L [ANL]) applied through drinking water on hen day egg production (HDEP), egg quality, and small intestine histomorphology of Hy-Line W-36 laying hens from 65 to 73 wk of age. A total of 90 hens were randomly allocated into 2 treatment groups with 15 replicate cages, and each cage containing 3 hens. Hens were housed in an A-frame conventional cage and followed the light regime of 16L:8D period. The 2 treatments consisted of either without or with ANL provided via drinking water (0.5 mL/L) as control (CON) and ANL group. Hen day egg production, feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and egg quality were measured weekly. Supplementation of ANL increased HDEP and decreased FI and FCR in the treated group. The internal quality of eggs Haugh unit (HU), total yolk carotenoids (TYC), and yolk color score (YCS) were significantly increased in the ANL group compared with the CON group. No significant differences were observed in the measured exterior quality of eggs among the 2 treatments. Alquernat Nebsui L did not affect the histomorphology of duodenum, jejunum, and ileum except for the villus width of the duodenum, which was higher in the ANL group than the CON group. There was no significant difference in either absolute or relative intestinal weight in the ANL or CON group. It can be concluded that the addition of ANL in drinking water may have beneficial effects on egg production, FI, FCR, HU, TYC, and YCS.

Keywords

• egg production
• egg quality
• histomorphology
• laying hens
• phytogenic feed additives