Response of sea grapes (Caulerpa sp.) in diets on laying hens performance and egg quality

Abstract

This study aims to determine the effect of dietary sea grapes (Caulerpa sp.) on laying hen performance and egg quality. Forty strain Lohmann layers of 56 weeks of age were randomly divided into five treatments. Each treatment consisted of four replicates, and each replicate used two chickens. The dietary treatments were assigned to the control group (T0 0% Caulerpa sp., T1 0.5% Caulerpa sp., T2 1% Caulerpa sp., T3 1.5% Caulerpa sp., and T4 2% Caulerpa sp.). The treatment diets were comprised of iso energy (2,900 ME kcal/kg) and iso protein (18%). Feed and drinking water were available ad libitum. Twenty hundred eggs were collected to measure the external and internal egg quality. The data collected included egg production (laying rate), egg mass, feed intake, feed conversion ratio (FCR), external egg quality (weight eggs, shell thickness), and internal egg quality (eggshell component, albumen height, yolk height, yolk color, and yolk antioxidant). A complete experiment was studied in four weeks. After analyzing the data statistically using a one-way ANOVA, we proceeded with the Tukey test to further examine the results. The results showed that dietary Caulerpa sp. until the 2% level did not affect laying hen performance or egg quality; however, 1.5% Caulerpa sp. reduced FCR and had high antioxidant activity.