Production performance and egg quality of laying hens fed different dietary levels of growth promoter under tropical conditions

Enzymes are used mainly to achieve consistency in performance and to alleviate the negative effects of non-starch polysaccharides cell wall by lowering gut viscosity and improving nutrient digestibility resulting in improved performance and egg quality. The present research was conducted to study the response of laying hens to enzymatic growth promoters on egg production, feed consumption, feed conversion ratio, egg weight and egg quality. 20 weeks old, hundred laying birds (Hy-line brown) were divided into four groups of 25 birds each. The birds were assigned to the basal control diet or the basal diet supplemented with 250, 500 and or 750 mg/kg of Amecozyme 2X. The results indicated those birds between 24-28 weeks and 28- 32 weeks old showed improvements in egg production % and egg mass with increasing Acozyme 2x supplementation. However with the birds between 24 to 28 weeks old the lowest feed conversion ratio (1.77) was recorded with diet containing 750 mg/kg enzyme. The egg shell % was increased with increasing Amecozyme supplementation to diets. The diets given to the birds had no significant effects on egg index, yolk index, shell strength, shell thickness and Haugh Unit of the experimental birds. It is concluded that addition of Acozyme to layer diets as feed additives on a week 24 to 28 had improved egg production, feed conversion, egg mass and egg quality. Future research is needed to determine the optimal dietary inclusion level and the exact mode of action of the examined feed additive.

Keywords: Production Performance, Egg Quality, Hens, Feeding, Growth Promoters