Abstract
ABSTRACTThe experiment was conducted on Isa Brown laying hens to study the effects of sea buckthorn fruit residues on hen performance and quality of eggs. The total number of 1440 eighteen-week-old pullets Isa Brown was divided into two groups (720 each) including 24 subgroups (30 hens). The experimental group was fed diets in which 5% of the wheat was replaced by sea buckthorn fruit residues. The control group was fed diets without any colour additives. Egg production and intensity of laying hens were evaluated in seven periods, from 127 to 322 days of age. In our study, a significant effect (P ≤ .05) of sea buckthorn fruit residues on total number of laid eggs and egg yolk colour was detected. However, a non-significant effect of sea buckthorn was found on hen performance or egg quality including egg weight, yolk weight, eggshell strength, shape index of egg, eggshell thickness, Haugh units, eggshell colour and blood spot, albumen weight, proportion and Haugh units. Results of our study showed the beneficial effect of feeding sea buckthorn fruit residues on total number of laid eggs and egg yolk colour which is a great concern for egg consumers.
Highlights
Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is a deciduous species, widely found all over the world
The results obtained in this experiment have shown that replacing wheat with 5% of sea buckthorn fruit residues significantly (P ≤ .05) increased the total number of laid eggs (Table 3)
The results are in agreement with the findings of Englmaierova et al (2013) who reported that feeding diets supplemented with synthetic carotenoids such as lutein significantly increased the egg production of Isa Brown hens
Summary
Sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) is a deciduous species, widely found all over the world. It is a hardy, deciduous shrub bearing small yellow to orange-red berries and grows widely in Europe, central Asia and the temperate regions of South Asia, India and China. Dumbrava et al (2006) reported that feeding poultry with a meal made from sea buckthorn fruit has been observed to increase the pigmentation of the egg yolk. For the content of bioactive substances, the sea buckthorn was used for many years in different forms in human nutrition as a health supplement. In the Czech Republic there are some companies that produce sea buckthorn products for human nutrition, or supply their products to pharmaceutical companies and sell for the same price as wheat and can be used as an ingredient of compound feed mixtures for poultry
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