Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of parenteral gibberellic acid (GA3) and/or vitamin D3 supplementation in diet on egg quality and blood physiological characteristics in aged laying hens. A total of 270 Lohmann Brown Classic laying hens aging 73-week were randomly assigned to equal three treatment groups (T1, T2 and T3) with equal 3 replicas in each group. The birds of group T1 (control group) were injected subcutaneously (SC) with sesame oil at 0.2 mL/kg body weight. The birds of group T2 were given with GA3 at 400 μg/kg b.wt., SC, whereas group T3 had diet containing vitamin D3 at 500 IU/kg feed. Relative weight of albumen and egg shell, Haugh unit, shell thickness, serum glucose, serum calcium, serum phosphorous, serum estradiol, and bone calcium absorption were significantly increased in the birds of group T2 and T3. On the other hand, relative weight of yolk, yolk cholesterol, and serum cholesterol were significantly decreased in group T2 and T3 as compared to group T1. However, serum protein and albumen were unaffected in the treatments. In conclusion, the parenteral GA3 and vitamin D3 supplementation in diet could improve egg quality traits and serum blood biochemical perperties in agend laying hens. http://dx.doi.org/10.5455/javar.2014.a39
Highlights
Huge economic loss can be occurred in egg industry due to decrease in egg shell quality, and bone quality of hen
Zeidler (2001) noticed that about 10% eggs are cracked or broken between laying farm and retail sales. This problem might be expanded with aged hens where the egg shell quality, especially strength (Rodriguez-Navarro et al, 2002) or thickness (Onderci et al, 2006) and proportion of albumen are decreased
The hens were provided with 130 g/bird/day; this exceeded the recommended level (120 g/bird/day) as the experiment was conducted in winter season when temperature was decreased and the facilities could not control the temperature
Summary
Huge economic loss can be occurred in egg industry due to decrease in egg shell quality, and bone quality of hen. Zeidler (2001) noticed that about 10% eggs are cracked or broken between laying farm and retail sales This problem might be expanded with aged hens where the egg shell quality, especially strength (Rodriguez-Navarro et al, 2002) or thickness (Onderci et al, 2006) and proportion of albumen are decreased. Aged hens have less ability to maintain calcium homeostasis which causes increasing incidence of soft and broken shell eggs The reasons of this problem might be due to change in hormone profiles, decreased sensitivity of tissues to hormone action, and diminished ability of the hen to transport calcium at the duodenum (Al-Batshan et al, 1994; Hansen, 1998, 2000)
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