The Effect of Adding Different Levels of Dried Chicken Eggshell Powder on the Qualitative and Sensory Qualities of the Lohmann Layer Chicken Eggs

Abstract

The experiment was conducted in the fields of the Department of Animal Production, College of Agriculture, University of Kirkuk, for the period from 7/24/2023 to 10/1/2023, the aim of study was to adding different levels of chicken eggshell powder to diet of Lohman laying hens and study the effect on internal and external egg traits. One hundred 28-weeks-old birds were used, distributed randomly among five treatments, twenty birds for each treatment. The birds from each treatment were distributed into five replicates, with four birds per replicate. The eggshell was boiled for an hour in water, and then the shell was washed well and cleaned of impurities. Once the washing was completed, the eggshell was dried in the sun for 3 days, stirring constantly. After the end of the drying period, the eggshell was broken and crushed using a grinder, after which it was ready to be mixed with the feed. The treatments were as follow, T1=control (0%) eggshell powder, T2= 25% eggshell powder, T3= 50% eggshell powder, T4= 75% eggshell powder, T5= 100% eggshell powder. The egg was collected weekly; the egg weight was measured by using electronic balance with (0.01) g, then the external and internal traits were measured. SAS version 4.9 and the CRD method were used to analyze the data, and Duncan’s multi-range test was used to determine the means of the coefficients. Significant differences were found in egg breadth, HU, albumin index, and yolk color. The study conducted that Adding 25-50% of egg shell powder to the ration of brown-laying Lohman chickens led to an improvement in the egg breadth, HU, albumin index, and yolk color.