Abstract
ABSTRACT To investigate the effects of soy isoflavones (ISF) on the laying performance of Xueshan breeder hens at different phases of the egg production cycle, 32 weeks (wks) old local Chinese breeder hens were assigned to two groups with three replicates (750 hens/replicate) for control and treatment groups. Then every group was divided into three sub-groups following 4, 12, and 20 wks administration of control or ISF diet. General Linear Model procedure was used (2× 3), and treatments were considered of two factors (diets and time) with different levels (control and ISF diets; 4, 12, and 20 wks of diet supply time). Basal diet with 3 mg/kg ISF was used. Performance, egg quality, organs relative weight and cholesterol level were measured at three time-points of 36, 44, and 52-wks of age old. The results showed that both diets and time significantly affected the production performance and physiological parameters. In details, ISF inclusion significantly (p=0.02) decreased average egg weight and average feed intake compared to control at 52-wks of age old, however, feed conversation ratio was not affected by ISF diet. Moreover, ISF diet caused to an increase hatching rate (p=0.01) at 36-wks old hens, an abnormal egg rate decrease (p=0.02) at 44-wks old, an increase in yolk color (p=0.035) and Haugh unit (p=0.039), and a decrease in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level (p=0.03) at 52-wks of age old. ISF diet also increased spleen relative weight (p=0.041) and total antioxidant capacity compared to the control group. The results revealed that ISF inclusion exerted some benefits, thus it could be a potential feed additive for the breeder hens.
Highlights
Feed additives of plant origin gain more interest among producers and nutritionists due to their safety, availability, their possible role in improving growth performance due to their antioxidant properties, and the lack of side effects for human and animals as well
This study aimed to determine the effect of long term ISF supplementation on egg production, egg quality, fertility, hatchability, and cholesterol level at 36 wk, 44 wk, and 52 wk of age in local Chinese breeder hens
Our study has demonstrated the effects of 3 mg/kg ISF dose on performance, egg quality, hatchability, and some oxidative status in Chinese Xueshan local broiler breeder hens at different stages of its production cycle, peak, post-peak and terminal stage
Summary
Feed additives of plant origin gain more interest among producers and nutritionists due to their safety, availability, their possible role in improving growth performance due to their antioxidant properties, and the lack of side effects for human and animals as well. Soy isoflavones (ISF) are natural synthesized phenolic compounds plants, which exist in two forms: conjugated or unconjugated (Kudou et al, 1991). They are commonly known as phytoestrogens because of their structural similarity to 17β-estradiol, and their capability to bind to estrogen receptor (ERs) with much more affinity to ERβ (Pilsakova et al, 2010). Several studies showed that ISF had an antioxidant property (Jiang et al, 2007), could promote immune function (Zhang et al, 1997), prevented the breast cancer, lowered the risk of osteoporosis, decreased the plasma cholesterol level, and enhanced the antioxidative potential in humans and animals (Messina, 2010)
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