INFLUENCE OF ω-3 FATTY ACIDS SUPPLEMENTED TO LAYING HENS' DIET ON LAYING PERFORMANCE

Abstract

A group-control experiment for a period of 45 days was conducted in order to determine the effects of use of ω-3 fatty acids on the production and economic results of laying hens. A total of 1264 Lohmann Brown layers were randomly devided into 4 experimental treatments with 79 replicates (4 per cage, 316 hens per treatment). The first group was fed complete feed mixture for laying hens with standard raw material and chemical composition. The feed mixtures for treatments 2., 3. and 4. were supplemented with ω-3 fatty acids. The source of ω-3 fatty acids was a microalgae Schizochytrium spp., commercial product “DHA Gold” (Martek, USA) in quantities of 0.5, 0.7 and 1.0%, respectively. The use of ω-3 PUFA supplement in higher inclusion rates, had a positive influence on the laying intensity, significantly higher (p <0.01) in the experimental groups supplemented in the amount of 0.7 and 1.0%. Layers of all experimental groups fed supplemented feed mixtures had lower average egg weights (68.1, 68.7 and 68.4 g) compared to the control group (68.8 g). However, supplementation with higher inclusion rates of ω-3 product resulted in higher total egg mass during the experiment (743 and 764 kg) in the third and fourth experimental groups, compared to the control group (691.9 kg). Experimental groups with a higher inclusion of ω-3 PUFA (0.7 and 1.0%), achieved higher daily consumption of 0.16% and 0.51% in comparison to the control group, but the best feed conversion (2.38 and 2.32), while supplementation in the amount of 0.5% resulted in the weakest conversion in the experimental group 2 (2.63). The lowest feed cost per produced egg was achieved by the control group fed complete, unsupplemented feed. Using supplemented feed with addition of ω-3 PUFA – DHA above the 0.5%, a significant difference was observed regarding the productivity of laying hens.