Effects of selected feed additives on the performance of laying hens given a diet rich in maize dried distiller's grains with solubles (DDGS)

Abstract

1. A total of 192 ISA Brown hens were given diets containing a high concentration of maize dried distiller's grains with solubles (DDGS) and the effect of selected feed additives on laying performance and egg quality was determined. 2. Birds were allocated to 8 treatment groups with 12 replicates (cages) of two hens and were given, from week 26 to 55, iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous experimental diets with or without a high concentration of DDGS (200 g/kg). The diet containing DDGS was not supplemented or supplemented with enzymes (xylanase and phytase), sodium butyrate, probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus salivarius) and a mixture of herbal extracts (Taraxaci siccum, Urticae siccum and Salviae siccum), inulin or chitosan. 3. The inclusion of DDGS in the diet had no effect on number of eggs produced, total egg mass, mean egg weight, feed intake or feed conversion ratio. Egg and eggshell quality parameters were also unaffected by dietary DDGS. The yolk colour score (points in Roche scale) was significantly increased by DDGS inclusion. DDGS in the diet caused some changes in the yolk lipid profile that were rather unfavourable from a dietary perspective (an increase of cholesterol content, and PUFA n-6/PUFA n-3 ratio). 4. During the experimental period (26-55 weeks of age) supplementation of the diet containing a high concentration of DDGS with enzymes, inulin as well as chitosan, increased number of eggs produced and daily egg mass. In older hens (50 weeks of age) inulin positively affected eggshell quality parameters, i.e. shell percentage, thickness and density. Diet supplementation with herb extracts, inulin or chitosan, decreased the content of cholesterol in yolks. 5. The results of this study suggest that DDGS may be incorporated up to a concentration of 200 g/kg in the diet of laying hens without any negative effects on egg performance. Moreover, supplementation of xylanase and phytase, as well as inulin and chitosan, can positively affect the performance of layers given diets with a high concentration of DDGS.

Bones quality indices in laying hens fed diets with a high level of DDGS and supplemented with selected feed additives

“…As presented also in our previous paper (Swiatkiewicz et al, 2013), the incorporation of 200 g/kg DDGS to the diet did not affect laying performance parameters. The bone breaking strengths of tibias and femurs (Tables 2 and 4) of ISA Brown hens obtained in our study (175 and 159 N, averaged across all dietary treatments) were similar to the values observed in our earlier experiment with Bovans Brown layers (Swiatkiewicz et al, 2010a), but higher than in the experiment with Hy-Line Brown hens of a similar age (Koreleski and Swiat- (Janssen, 1989) as a sum of metabolizable energy content of components 3 calculated according to the chemical composition of feed components 4 calculated according to the digestibility coefficients determined previously in our laboratory (Szczurek, 2009) kiewicz, 2004).…”

The efficacy of using exogenous enzymes cocktail on production, egg quality, egg nutrients and blood metabolites of laying hens fed distiller's dried grains with solubles

“…Our results are not even aligned with those reported by Masa'deh () who reported no significant effect of enzymes on feed conversion of laying hens. In contrast, Świątkiewicz, Arczewska‐Włosek, Krawczyk, Puchała, & Józefiak (2013) found that diet supplementation with enzymes significantly ( p ≤ .05) improved the number of eggs produced in the second phase of the laying cycle.…”

The effect of sea buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides L.) fruit residues on performance and egg quality of laying hens

“…Sharma et al (2009) observed increased eggshell thickness (by 10.0%) and strength against breaking (by 15.2%), as well as decreased number of eggs with shell defects (by 2.5 percentage points) in hens fed diet supplemented with herbal products. In contrast, several authors did not find any beneficial effect of dietary plant extracts in terms of improvement in eggshell quality (Bozkurt et al 2012;Swiatkiewicz et al 2013). On the other hand Wang (1997) reported that in poultry, sea buckthorn positively affected the egg production and body weight of laying hens.…”