-93 - Acta fytotechn. zootechn., 17, 2014(
IntroductionPhytogenic feed additives are used in animal nutrition and feeding for their beneficial effects such as higher performance, reproduction and health status (Capcarová and Kolesárová, 2010). Phytogenics are feed additives, plant-derived products used in animal feeding to improve the performance of livestock. Most studies investigate blends of various active compounds and report the effects on production performance rather than the physiological effects (Windisch et al., 2008). The last two decades have seen a substantial increase in the use of aromatic herbs and essential oils as feed additives in animal nutrition (Franz et al., 2010). Positive effect of phytoadditives are determine by application dosage and additive composition (Gálik et al., 2013), they are usable in animal nutrition for better feed conversion ratio and nutrient utilization (Kroismayr et al., 2007 andLi et al., 2007). In laying hens nutrition, feed additives can improve their production and also nutrient composition of eggs, mainly yolk nutrients content. The aim of the study was to analyse the dietary effect of Rhus coriaria L. seeds as a phytogenic additive on yolk nutrient composition in Hy-Line Brown laying hens nutrition.
Material and MethodsThe experiment was realised in cooperation with the Department of Poultry Science and Small Animal Husbandry. Trial lasted 21 weeks. Hy-Line Brown laying hens were used for the trial. At 20 week of age, total 20 hens were randomly divided to two group, control group (C) and experimental group (E), in each group 10 hens. Hens in both groups were fed by standard feed mixture contained 39.
Results and DiscussionThere are many papers, which focused on different feed additives for poultry as an alternative for antibiotic growth promoters (Cross et al., 2007;Gálik et al., 2013). Plant extracts, or their ethereal oils are typical for many desirable effects, such as inhibition of pathogen microorganism and stimulation of same desirable physiological processes (Gali-Muhtasib et al., 2006;Yazan et al., 2009). In our experiment we analyzed the effect of a phytogenic additive Rhus coriaria L. on yolk nutrient composition during 21 weeks. During the trial, the eggs were analysed three times, every 7 weeks after the experiment start. Results are show in Table 2. We found insignificant (P >0.05) differences in dry matter content in egg´s yolks. In crude protein of egg´s yolk in 1 st and 2 nd collection we found a tendency (P >0.05) of higher content in eggs of hens fed with Rhus coriaria L. supplementation in feed mixture. Significant differences (P <0.05) were found in yolk crude fat content. After phytogenic additive (seeds of Rhus coriaria L.) we found significantly lower crude fat content in all collection, mainly in second eggs collection (628.43 g kg -1 of dry matter in control group vs. 590.37 g kg -1 of dry matter in experimental group). Our results correspond with results published by Arpášová et al. (2010). Authors reported that major effect of a phyto...