Performance, egg quality, blood profile, immune function, and antioxidant enzyme activities in laying hens fed diets with thyme powder
Journal Title: Journal of Animal and Feed Sciences - Year 2015, Vol 24, Issue 2
Abstract
This study evaluated the effect of thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) on productive performance, egg quality, blood profile, immune function and antioxidant enzyme activity in laying hens. A total of 96 thirty-six-week-old laying hens were assigned to a basal control diet or a diet supplemented with 3, 6, or 9 g · kg–1 of thyme fed from 36 to 52 weeks of age. Hens were divided into four equal groups replicated six times with four hens per replicate. No significant differences were observed among the dietary treatments in body weight change, feed consumption, or feed conversion ratio. Supplementation of thyme up to 6 g · kg–1 in the diet led to an increase in egg weight compared with the basal diet. Egg number was not (P > 0.05) influenced by thyme supplementation, except from 36 to 40 weeks of age. Birds fed diets with 3 or 6 g · kg–1 of thyme had greater (P < 0.05) egg mass than those fed the unsupplemented diet or that with 9 g · kg–1 of thyme. Dietary supplementation with thyme exhibited a significantly positive effect on parameters related to immunity and lipid profile. Serum superoxide dismutase activity and reduced glutathione concentration were significantly increased in groups fed diets with thyme (P = 0.010 and P < 0.001, respectively). The malondialdehyde concentration was decreased (P = 0.048) in experimental groups in comparison with the control. In conclusion, thyme supplemented up to 9 g · kg–1 diet can be used as an effective feed additive to improve productive performance, blood profile and antioxidant enzyme activities in laying hens.
Authors and Affiliations
M. E. Abd El-Hack, M. Alagawany
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP75407
- DOI -
- Views 95
- Downloads 0
Development of nucleic acid based techniques and possibilities of their application to rumen microbial ecology research
Despite many years of research elucidating processes occurring in the rumen, still only around 10% of the rumen microbe is known. Molecular biology techniques seem to be a good complement of an information obtained by us...
Effect of dietary fat type on performance, biochemical indices and fatty acids profile in the blood serum of broiler chickens
The aim of the experiment was to compare the effect of different dietary fat sources on performance, biochemical indices and fatty acid profile in the blood serum of broilers. The study was carried out on 96 male Ross 30...
The effect of using soyabean or linseed oil with RRR-d-α-tocopherol or dl-α-tocopherol acetate on haematological parameters and rearing performance of young turkey hens
The aim of the study was to analyse whether and to what degree the use of RRR-d-α-tocopherol in diets containing an oil rich in linoleic or linolenic acid (soyabean or linseed oil, respectively) would make it possible to...
The potential of tomato pomace as a feed ingredient in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.) diet
Aquaculture dependency on component feed has increased attention to alternative feedstuffs for conventional ingredients such as fish meal, oil seeds and grains. The main aim of this study was to evaluate growth performan...
The effect of calcium propionate supplementation on performance, meat quality, and mRNA expression of finishing steers fed a high-concentrate diet
The effects of calcium propionate supplementation on performance, meat quality, and mRNA expression of Wagyu steers were investigated. Eighteen steers (635 ± 20 kg; 18 ± 1 month old) were randomly divided into two groups...