Taurine Enrichment of Eggs with Feather Meal and Pyridoxine

The effects of dietary supplementation of feather meal (FM) and pyridoxine ($B_6$) on the taurine content of egg yolk and performance of laying hens were investigated. A feeding trial was conducted in nine hundred 31-wk-old $Hy-Line^{\circledR}$ Brown layers over 4 wk. The hens received 6 dietary treatments: Control, FM 3% supplemented diet (FM 3%), FM 3%+$B_6$ supplemented diet (FM 3%+$B_6$), FM 6% supplemented diet (FM 6%), FM 6%+$B_6$ supplemented diet (FM 6%+$B_6$), and synthetic taurine 0.25% supplemented diet (Taurine). Parameters of production were significantly (p<0.05) affected by treatments. The egg production of hens fed FM 3% was the highest and hens fed FM diets were more productive than the Taurine and Control groups. The egg weights of the Taurine group were significantly lower than those of the FM 3% and FM 6% groups, but not significantly different from those of other treatments. The feed intake of the Control group was highest among all groups. The feed conversion ratio of the Control group was higher than in groups receiving other treatments of which FM 6% was the lowest. The broken egg production of the Taurine group was highest, while that of the Control group was lowest among treatments. The taurine content of egg yolk was significantly (p<0.01) increased by supplementation of taurine (64.7%), FM 6%+$B_6$ (57%), FM 3%+$B_6$ (32.1%), and FM 6% (16.6%) over a 4 wk average. Sensory evaluation data of the Taurine group showed the highest score in all of the sensory attributes and those of other treatments were not significantly (p<0.05) different. In conclusion, taurine can be enriched in egg yolk by supplementation of 6% FM and $B_6$, as well as 0.25% synthetic taurine.