Effect of caprylic acid andYucca schidigeraextract on production performance, egg quality, blood characteristics, and excreta microflora in laying hens

Abstract

1. A total of 240 Hy-line brown laying hens (36-week-old), were used in this 8 week experiment to evaluate the effect of caprylic acid and Yucca schidigera extract (CY) on production performance, egg quality, blood characteristics, and excreta microflora. 2. Layers were divided into 5 dietary treatment groups which consisted of: (1) NC, basal diet; (2) PC, basal diet + 110 mg/kg of tylosin; (3) CY1, basal diet + 30 mg/kg caprylic acid + 30 mg/kg Yucca extract; (4) CY2, basal diet + 60 mg/kg caprylic acid + 60 mg/kg Yucca extract; (5) CY3, basal diet + 120 mg/kg caprylic acid + 120 mg/kg Yucca extract. The Yucca extract contained 12·5% saponins. 3. Egg production was unaffected, whereas egg weights and feed efficiency were linearly improved by the addition of CY. There were no differences in the egg quality parameters throughout the experimental period. Plasma total triglyceride and cholesterol concentration in plasma and egg yolk were decreased as utilisation of CY increased. The Escherichia coli counts were linearly inhibited by the CY treatments when compared with the NC treatment at both the 5 and 8 week stages. No difference was observed on the Lactobacillus population through the whole experimental period. 4. In conclusion, the addition of 120 mg/kg caprylic acid and 120 mg/kg Yucca extract exerted positive effects on egg weight and feed efficiency, decreased the serum and yolk cholesterol concentration and reduced the proliferation of Escherichia coli.

Effects of caprylic acid and Yucca schidigera extract on growth performance, relative organ weight, breast meat quality, haematological characteristics and caecal microbial shedding in mixed sex Ross 308 broiler Dickens

“…The addition of CA (5 g/kg) to a diet for piglets increased (P < 0.05) weight gain versus the basal diet (Marounek et al 2004). Recently, caprylic acid was reported to have anti-microbial activity against a wide range of microorganisms such as Salmonella enteritidis and Campylobacter jejuni in chicken caecal contents (Vasudevan et al 2005;Skrivanova et al 2006; Solis de los Santos et al 2008;Wang and Kim 2011) and Escherichia coli 0157:H7 in bovine rumen fluid (Annamalai et al 2004). The use of Yucca schidigera (YS) extract in poultry feed is a good alternative to improve feed efficiency and increased production (Ayasan et al 2005).…”

Dietary Bacillus subtilis B2A strain in laying hens challenged with Salmonella gallinarum: effects on egg production, egg quality, blood haptoglobin and targeted intestinal Salmonella shedding

“…At the end of the experiment, excreta samples were collected from 10 layers per treatment, then pooled and placed on ice for transportation to the laboratory, where analysis was immediately performed by the method of Wang and Kim (2011). After collection of excreta samples, the same birds were slaughtered, and the large and small intestines were sampled for the enumeration of Salmonella, E. coli and Lactobacillus.…”

Egg Production, Egg Quality, Blood Profiles, Cecal Microflora, and Excreta Noxious Gas Emission in Laying Hens Fed withFenugreek (<i>Trigonella foenum-graecum</i> L.) Seed Extract

“…At the end of the experiment, samples of cecal contents were collected from 16 laying hens randomly selected from each treatment, then placed on ice for transportation to the laboratory, where analyses were immediately performed using the method described by Wang and Kim (2011). Onegram of pooled cecal content sample was diluted 1:9 (wt/vol) with phosphate buffer saline solution (PBS; 0.1M, pH 7.0).…”