Abstract
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence and safety of spraying Farm Clean-S (FC-S) containing 70% <italic>Chamaecyparis obtusa</italic> essential oil on the elimination of red mite in laying hens. In total, 300 laying hens (ISA brown) aged 72 weeks and infected with red mite were assigned to individual cages for five treatments with five replicates for 18 days. Treatments consisted of distilled water (negative control; NC), commercial spray product (positive control; PC), FC-S 0 (original concentration), FC-S 50 (50 times diluted) and FC-S 100 (100 times diluted). The number of red mites, egg production and weight of each group were evaluated daily throughout the whole experimental period. Egg quality and blood biochemical parameters were measured at the end of the experiment. Safety tests were confirmed by feed intake, respiration, lethargy, diarrhea and mortality symptoms after the feeding trial. As the result, more than 80% of red mites were eliminated by the FC-S 0 spray treatment, and FC-S 50 also showed a higher elimination percentage than did PC (<italic>P</italic><0.01). However, the elimination effect of the FC-S 100 spray was lower than that of the PC, but higher than that of the NC (<italic>P</italic><0.01). These results confirmed that the optimum FC-S dilution rate ranged from 0∼50 times with distilled water to eliminate the red mite effectively. The performance, egg quality, blood parameter and safety tests were not significantly different among treatments. Thus, FC-S 0 and FC-S 50 spray treatments can effectively and sustainably control red mite infestations without detrimental effects on the performance, egg quality and plasma biochemical properties of laying hens.
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