Abstract
The study was conducted to determine the effect of organic acids supplementation on body weight changes, feed intake, feed efficiency, egg production, egg weight and egg quality in laying hens at age between 67 and 74 weeks. A total of 48 Shaver 579 laying hens of 67 weeks age were allotted into 4 groups, each containing 12 hens. The hens were fed basal diet (17% CP and 2800 kcal ME/kg diet) supplemented with 0 (T1), 260 (T2), 520 (T3) and 780 ppm (T4) of organic acid mixture (fumaric acid and salt of butyric, propionic and lactic acids). The results revealed no effect of organic acids supplementation on body weight change and feed intake but improvement of egg production and feed conversion were observed. Organic acids supplementation significantly increased egg production by about 2.26, 8.0 and 9.84% on 260, 520 and 780 ppm respectively when compared with the untreated group (P<0.05). Feed conversion showed a significant (P<0.05) improvement in laying hen groups which fed on the basal diet supplemented with organic acids at 260, 520 and 780 ppm by about 1.85, 8.48 and 7.74% respectively when compared with the control. On the other hand, dietary organic acid had no effect on the average egg weight, while showed a lower percentage of large (P<0.05) and extra large egg (P<0.01) size compared with control group. Body composition parameters were not affected (P>0.05) by dietary treatments. Inclusion of organic acids improved egg shell thickness (P<0.05) while significantly reduced albumen index (P<0.05). Incorporation of organic acids attributed to significant increase per cent albumen (P<0.01) and significant decrease in yolk per cent (P<0.05). It can be concluded that organic acid supplementation of laying hens diet may improve persistency of lay and feed conversion. From economical point of view, it is concluded that organic acid addition (520 ppm) may result an economic benefit of layer production at older age. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjas.v37i2.9884 BJAS 2008; 37(2): 74-81
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
