The effects of replacing wheat and soyabean meal with duckweed (Lemna minor) and including enzymes in the diet of laying hens on the yield and quality of eggs, biochemical parameters, and their antioxidant status

Duckweed is a rapidly growing aquatic plant, which could be used in the diet of laying hens to enhance carbon capture and improve land use efficiency. Digestion may be improved by supplementation with exogenous enzymes. We replaced soyabean meal and wheat with duckweed in a 10-week study with 432, 60-week-old Hy-Line W-36 layers, divided into six isocaloric and isonitrogenous dietary treatments, each with eight replicates. Two factors were investigated: first, duckweed substituted for wheat gluten meal and soyabean meal at 0, 7.5 and 15% of the diet, and second, with and without a multi-enzyme supplement (500 mg/kg). Duckweed did not affect egg output or weight, but it improved yolk color (P = 0.01) and reduced the liver enzymes aspartate aminotransferase (P = 0.04) and alanine aminotransferase (P = 0.02) in serum, suggesting hepatoprotective effects. Enzyme addition did not alter the effects of including duckweed in the diet, but it increased feed intake (P = 0.03). It is concluded that, as well as offering the potential to increase land productivity, inclusion of duckweed in the diet of laying hens enhances egg yolk color and hepatoprotection, without detrimental effects on performance.

Effect of dietary flaxseed meal supplemented with dried tomato and grape pomace on performance traits and antioxidant status of laying hens

This study was carried out to determine the effect of dietary flaxseed meal (FSM) supplemented with dried tomato pomace (DTP) and dried grape pomace (DGP) on performance, egg quality, biochemical parameters traits and antioxidant status of laying hens. Birds (1825 ± 87 g of body weight) were divided into 12 dietary groups with six replicates per group (eight birds per replicate), under a completely randomized design with factorial arrangement 2 × 3 × 2 consisted of two levels of DTP (0 and 15%), three FSM levels (0, 4 and 8%) and two levels of DGP (0 and 5%). As a result of this study, there were no significant differences in egg production and weight as well in feed conversion ratio (FCR) among treatments (p > 0.05). Feeding of DGP reduced significantly feed intake and egg mass when compared to control group (p < 0.05). There was no effect (p > 0.05) of dietary treatment on shell thickness and strength, shape index, Haugh unit and egg specific gravity. Hens consuming 15% DTP and 5% DGP revealed a significantly higher yolk color compared to the other dietary treatments (p < 0.05). Moreover, there was no difference among dietary treatments in terms of serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) cholesterol, atherogenic index, triglycerides, total cholesterol levels (p > 0.05). Serum antioxidant parameters as glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA), total superoxide dismutase (TSOD) and total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) were not influenced by treatments (p > 0.05). Based on findings, FSM and DTP supplements did not significantly impact most of hens' performance indicators and egg quality parameters, whereas significant improvements were observed by feeding of 15% DTP and 5% DGP on egg traits, in particular on egg-yolk color that plays a key-role in consumer's choice. However, the supplementation of FSM and DTP or DGP even in laying hen diet is still controversial and further research is needed.

Effects of Using Processed Amaranth Grain with and without Enzyme on Performance, Egg Quality, Antioxidant Status and Lipid Profile of Blood and Yolk Cholesterol in Laying Hens

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of feeding Amaranthus hybridus chlorostachys grain (AG) with (+E) and without enzyme (−E) on performance, egg quality, antioxidant status and lipid profile of blood serum and yolk cholesterol in laying hens. A total of 960 white leghorn (Hy-line W-36) commercial layers (56 weeks) were divided into 10 groups with 8 replicates per group (12 birds per replicate, including 3 adjacent cages with 4 birds each). A completely randomized design was implemented with a 5 × 2 factorial arrangement of treatments consisting of five levels of AG (0, 100, 200, 300 and 400 g/kg) and two levels of multienzyme complex addition (0 −E and 0.25 +E g/kg) fed to the hens for 12 weeks (2 wk. adaptation + 10 wk. main experiment). Feed intake (FI) and percentage of hen day production (HDP) were not affected by main effect of the AG level, but egg mass (EM) and egg weight (EW) were decreased (p < 0.01), and the feed conversion ratio (FCR) was impaired (p < 0.01). EM, EW and FCR were improved by enzyme addition (p < 0.01). EM, EW and FCR were affected (p < 0.01) by the interaction of AG and enzyme addition. The highest value of EM and the lowest value of FCR were observed in hens on the diet containing 200 g/kg AG with enzyme addition. Egg yolk cholesterol content was reduced (p < 0.05) by up to 10% with increasing levels AG in experimental diets. The egg quality traits, including Haugh units of protein quality, strength and shell thickness, were not affected by the main effects or interaction of AG and enzyme consumption. Amaranth feeding led to a decrease (p < 0.05) in triglyceride (TG) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) while also promoting increases (p < 0.05) in the high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of the blood. A comparison of the effects of contrasts showed that functional parameters (except FI), yolk cholesterol, antioxidant parameters (except MDA) and blood lipid profile had differed significantly (p < 0.05) between the hens fed amaranth versus those not fed amaranth. These findings indicate that feeding a diet containing up to 200 g/kg of AG with enzyme addition can improve EW, EM and FCR. Feeding laying hens diets containing AG also positively influenced blood traits and antioxidant status in laying hens while reducing egg yolk cholesterol content.

Effects of Horsetail (Equisetum arvense) and Spirulina (Spirulina platensis) Dietary Supplementation on Laying Hens Productivity and Oxidative Status

Simple Summary

In the last decade, the interest in plants, plant extracts, and derived phytochemicals as dietary additives for poultry has significantly increased. This study aimed to investigate the effects of different dietary levels of both horsetail and spirulina on performance, egg quantitative and qualitative traits, serum and yolk cholesterol, and antioxidant status of laying hens. Based on the findings, supplementing laying hen diet with horsetail and spirulina did not have a detrimental effect on productive parameters.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of dietary horsetail (Equisetum arvense) and spirulina (Spirulina platensis) supplementation on performance, egg quality, serum biochemical and antioxidant status of laying hens. A total of 648, 63-week-old Hy-Line W-36 layers were divided into nine groups with eight replicates per group (nine birds per replicate). A feeding trial was conducted under completely randomized design with factorial arrangement 3 × 3 consisting of three different dietary levels of horsetail supplementations (0, 0.25, and 0.50%, respectively) in combination with three levels of spirulina (0, 1, and 2%, respectively). Results showed that feed intake, egg production, egg weight and mass, and feed conversion ratio were not significantly affected by the dietary treatments. Eggshell thickness, strength, and yolk color were significantly improved in diets supplemented with 0.5% horsetail and 2% spirulina and their interactions. Egg yolk cholesterol was not significantly different among groups; however, a significant reduction was found when fed 2% spirulina. Serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) concentration decreased by supplementing 2% spirulina in diet; also, spirulina increased total superoxide dismutase (TSOD) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in laying hens. Overall, the findings indicated that the combination of horsetail and spirulina could have potential for improving the egg’s physical parameters, whereas spirulina was more effective in improving blood traits and oxidative status.

Effect of dietary sesame (Sesame indicum L) seed meal level supplemented with lysine and phytase on performance traits and antioxidant status of late-phase laying hens

Objective

This study was performed to investigate the effects of supplementing sesame seed meal (SSM) with phytase and lysine on performance, egg quality, blood biochemical and antioxidant status of laying hens.

Methods

A total of 960, 56-wk-old laying hens were divided into 12 dietary groups with eight replicates per group (10 birds per replicate). A completely randomized design with factorial arrangement 2×3×2 consisted of two levels of lysine supplement (0 and 10% over requirement), three SSM levels (0, 10 and 20%) with or without phytase (0 and 300 g/ton). The feeding trial lasted 10 weeks.

Results

From findings, birds fed diets with 10% SSM had higher feed intake than groups fed 0 and 20% SSM. The addition of phytase to experimental feeds, improved feed conversion ratio (FCR), increased egg weight and mass (P<0.01). Egg quality criteria was not affected by supplementing phytase; however, supplementing 300 g/ton phytase to hens diet, led to a significant (P<0. 05) increase in egg shell strength. Egg yolk cholesterol and serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), atherogenic index and total cholesterol were decreased (P<0.01) by diet containing 20% SSM. The high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was increased (P<0.05) in serum of hens fed 20% SSM than the other groups. It was also observed that total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and total superoxide dismutase (TSOD) content of hens fed 20% SSM was significantly upper than control group (P<0.05).

Conclusion

As from results, dietary supplementation of SSM and phytase had no negative effects on laying hens performance or egg quality improving also the egg oxidative stability.