Effect of Vitamin E on Production Performance and Egg Quality Traits in Indian Native Kadaknath Hen

This experiment investigated the effects of increasing dietary vitamin E (VE) on production performance and egg quality traits of Indian reared Kadaknath (KN) hens. One hundred and eighty (180), day old female KN chicks were randomly distributed to three dietary treatment groups for a period of 30 weeks. Each treatment comprised three replicates, each containing 20 chicks. The basal diet ($T_1$) contained 15 IU VE/kg and the two experimental diets were supplemented with 150 and 300 IU VE/kg (diets $T_2$ and $T_3$, respectively). DL-${\alpha}$-tocopherol acetate was used as the source of VE. All chicks were provided feed and water ad libitum. Production performance in terms of body weight, egg weight and hatchability did not differ significantly (p>0.05), whereas sexual maturity, egg production and fertility differed significantly (p<0.05) in $T_2$ compared to the other two groups. Egg quality traits in terms of albumin weight, yolk weight, shell thickness, albumin index and yolk index did not differ significantly (p>0.05), whereas the Haugh unit score was significantly higher (p<0.05) in $T_2$ than the control ($T_1$) and high dose treatment group ($T_3$). From this study, it can be concluded that lower levels of dietary VE may be beneficial for production performance and Haugh unit score but have no effect on egg quality traits in Indian reared KN hens.