Egg production in laying hens receiving different forms of red ginseng and fermented red koji blend

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate egg production in 40-week-old Hyline brown laying hens fed different forms of red ginseng marc (RGM) and fermented red koji (FRK) blend for 8 weeks. Two hundred and forty laying hens were distributed into four treatments (control, 1% RGM powder mixed with FRK, pelleted 1% RGM with FRK, and coated pellets of 1% RGM with FRK) with six replicates of ten birds each in a completely randomized design. Improvement in egg production was done by measuring hen-day egg production (HDP), egg weight (EW), feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), egg mass (EM) and Haugh unit (HU). There were significant differences (P 0.05) among all treatments for HDP and FCR after 8 weeks, for EW and EM after 6 and 8 weeks, and for FI and HU from 4 weeks onward until 8 weeks of the experimental period. It was concluded that feeding coated pellet diet of 1% RGM with FRK to laying hens of 40 weeks of age improves their egg production (HDP, FCR, EM and HU) at the end of the laying period.