• Journal of the Korean Applied Science and Technology
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.748-757
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• 2019

The objective of the present study was to evaluate effects of probiotic mixture (PM) including Bacillus subtillus, Streptomyces galilaeus and Sphingobacteriaceae on egg production, egg quality, and eliminating odor in laying hens. A total of 240 Hy-Line Brown laying hens (50 wks of age) were divided into four treatment groups (60 replicates of birds, each) in completely randomized design. Groups were assigned to four experimental diets: CON (a basal diet of no PM additive as control), basal diet supplemented with either CP3 (0.3% commercial probiotics), PM3 (0.3% PM), or PM5 (0.5% PM 0.5). Data of egg production and egg quality were obtained during 6 weeks of experimental period. Egg production, Haugh unit, shell thickness, breaking strength, yolk color, and albumin high were significantly increased in CP3 and PM3 compared to those in CON and CP3. Ammonia levels and numbers of E. coli, total aerobic bacteria, Coliform, and Salmonella in feces were significantly increased in order of CON>CP3>PM3>PM5. The present study indicates that addition of 0.3% probiotic mixture including B. subtillus, S. galilaeus and Sphingobacteriaceae to diets may improve egg production, egg quality, and eliminate fecal ammonia of laying hens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.32 no.9
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• pp.1407-1413
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• 2019

Objective: This experiment aimed to investigate the effect of different sources and inclusion levels of dietary fat on productive performance and egg quality in laying hens raised under hot environmental conditions. Methods: A total of 480 Hy-Line Brown laying hens at 31 wk of age were randomly allotted to 1 of 5 experimental diets. The control diet contained 2,800 kcal/kg nitrogen-corrected apparent metabolizable energy with no fat addition. Four additional diets were prepared by adding 2.0% or 4.0% of animal fat (AF) or soybean oil (SO). Energy and nutrient concentrations were consistent among all diets. Diets were fed to hens for 4 weeks. Average daily room temperature and humidity were $26.7^{\circ}C{\pm}1.52^{\circ}C$ and $77.4%{\pm}4.50%$. The heat stress index was approximately 76, indicating that hens were raised under heat stress conditions. Results: Final body weight (BW) was greater (p<0.05) for hens fed diets containing 2.0% or 4.0% AF than for those fed the control diet or diets containing 2.0% or 4.0% SO. The BW gain and feed intake were greater (p<0.05) for hens fed diets containing additional AF or SO than those fed the control diet. Eggshell thickness was the greatest (p<0.05) for hens fed the control diet, but the least (p<0.05) for hens fed diets containing 4.0% SO. Egg yolk color was the greatest (p<0.05) for hens fed the control diet, but the least (p<0.05) for hens fed diets containing 4.0% SO. Conclusion: Inclusion of supplemental fat (AF and SO) in diets exhibits preventative effects on BW loss for hens raised under hot environmental conditions when energy and nutrient concentrations in diets were maintained. The effects were greater for AF than for SO. However, inclusion of supplemental fat in diets decreases eggshell thickness and egg yolk yellowness, possibly due to a reduction in Ca absorption and intake of egg yolk colorants.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.77-84
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• 1995

In order to investigate the effect of feeding live yeast culture on the performance of laying hens, a feeding trial was conducted with 96 20-wk-old Hy4ine brown layers during their laying period of 60 wk. The live yeast culture used was a product from Saccharomyces cerevisiae that was cultured on the corn-based substrate followed by careful drying of whole material not to lose the viability of yeast. Three levels of yeast culture as 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0% for three treatments and 0% for the control were included in the experimental diets. The feeding trial was carried out for 60 wk from August 26, 1992 to October 26, 1993. To evaluate the performance of layers during cold or hot periods as affected by the yeast culture feeding, data from the 12-wk winter period and 12-wk summer period were separated and analyzed accordingly. During 60 wk of laying period hen-day egg production was slightly but significantly(P<.05) improved by feeding the yeast culture. The average egg weight and daily egg weight(g /day) were also increased by the yeast culture. Feeding the yeast culture did not increase feed intake but feed efficiency was improved significantly (P<.05). No significant difference was detected in egg or eggshell qualities between control and yeast culture-treated groups. Feed intake and egg weight were not affected by the yeast culture feeding under both cold and hot period, but egg production and feed efficiency during hot summer improved significantly by its feeding. This result indicates that the effectiveness of the yeast culture feeding is greater during summer than winter for laying hens.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.1-8
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• 2003

Objectives : To investigate the increasing effect of veterinary acupuncture (VA) on the eggs-laying rate, we carried out the experiment in old hens. Methods : Twenty four old hens (ISA Brown; 1,200 - 1,400 g) over 75 weeks old whose eggs-laying rates were under the 50% for recent 15 days were used. In experimental group, VA treatments were performed seven times during 10 days. Unang point at the end of bilateral wing and Migun point at the tail bone were stimulated about 30 seconds by the stainless steel needle (0.3 mm o.d.). In control group, similar manual stress were performed at same frequency. The numbers of laid eggs were observed for 26 days after the beginning of treatment. Bloods were sampled two times from wing veins during and after the treatment period and serum concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH) and Estradiol were detected. Results : Eggs-laying rates of experimental group $(34.29{\pm}2.79%)$ were significantly increased than that of control group $(27.56{\pm}2.00%,\;p<0.05)$ with the significant increasing of LH serum concentration in experimental group $(from\;0.77{\pm}0.13\;IU/I\;to\; 1.42{\pm}0.22\;IU/I,\;p<0.05)$. Conclusions : Increasing effect of VA treatment on the eggs-laying rate in old hens were proved in this study, and it may be the first prompt on the experimental investigation and development of VA.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.313-322
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• 2020

Objective: An experiment was conducted to investigate the response of laying hens fed corn distiller's dried grains with solubles (DDGS) that are naturally contaminated with deoxynivalenol (DON). Methods: One hundred and sixty 52-week-old Lohmann Brown Lite hens were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments with 8 replicates per treatment. The dietary treatments were formulated to provide a range of corn DDGS contaminated with DON from 0% to 20% (i.e., 5% scale of increment). All laying hens were subjected to the same management practices in a controlled environment. Body weight, feed intake and egg production were measured biweekly for the entire 8-week experiment. The egg quality was measured biweekly for 8 weeks. On weeks 4 and 8, visceral organ weights, blood metabolites, intestinal morphology, and blood cytokine concentrations were measured. Results: The inclusion of corn DDGS contaminated with DON in the diet did not alter (p>0.05) the body weight, feed intake, hen-day egg production, egg mass and feed efficiency of the laying hens. No difference was found (p>0.05) in the egg quality of hens that were fed the dietary treatments. Furthermore, hens that were fed a diet containing corn DDGS contaminated with DON showed no change (p>0.05) in the visceral organ weights, the blood metabolites, and the cytokine concentrations. The crypt depth increased (p<0.05) as the amount of corn DDGS contaminated with DON increased. Proportionately, the villus height to crypt depth ratio of the laying hens decreased (p<0.05) with the increasing level of corn DDGS contaminated with DON in the diet. Conclusion: The inclusion of corn DDGS contaminated with DON up to 20% in layer diets did not cause changes in egg production performance and egg quality, which indicates that DON is less toxic at the concentration of 1.00 mg DON/kg.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.412-417
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• 2007

An experiment was conducted to determine the distribution of nitrogen-15 in tissues of laying hens receiving different levels of $^{15}N$-CCC in diets. Twenty brown laying hens were divided into four groups and randomly assigned into one of four dietary treatment groups consisting of 0, 5, 50 and 100 ppm $^{15}N$-CCC inclusion. The hens were individually fed with the $^{15}N$-CCC diets in battery cages for 11 days and then all hens restored to feeding on the control diet for 7 days. After eleven days, eight hens were slaughtered, and the others were slaughtered seven days after $^{15}N$-CCC diets withdrawal. Samples of blood, liver, heart and meat were collected and their $^{15}N$ contents were determined. The ${\delta}^{15}N$ excess (${\delta}^{15}N$-ex) and atom percentage excess in $^{15}N$ were calculated. The ${\delta}^{15}N$-ex and atom percentage excess $^{15}N$ increased significantly (p<0.05) with increasing levels of $^{15}N$-CCC in diets in all tissues after feeding $^{15}N$-CCC diets for eleven days. The highest concentration of ${\delta}^{15}N$-ex and atom percentage excess $^{15}N$ were detected in blood, followed in order by liver, heart and thigh meat. The concentrations reduced significantly (p<0.05) after $^{15}N$-CCC diets were withdrawn. Comparison between treatment groups showed that ${\delta}^{15}N$-ex and atom percentage excess $^{15}N$ were still higher in hens that had been fed diets with higher levels of $^{15}N$-CCC. This study showed that nitrogen-15 was distributed in blood, liver, heart and meat of laying hens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.30 no.9
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• pp.1332-1339
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• 2017

Objective: This study investigated the effects of Bacillus subtilis CSL2 (B. subtilis CSL2) administration before Salmonella challenge on the fecal microbiota and microbial functionality of Hy-line Brown (HLB) laying hens. Methods: Fecal samples were collected from control (CON), Salmonella-infected (SAL) and Salmonella-infected, probiotic-treated (PRO) groups before and after Salmonella challenge for microbiome analysis using 16S rRNA gene pyrosequencing. Results: Infection with Salmonella led to decreased microbial diversity in hen feces; diversity was recovered with Bacillus administration. In addition, Salmonella infection triggered significant alterations in the composition of the fecal microbiota. The abundance of the phylum Firmicutes decreased while that of Proteobacteria, which includes a wide variety of pathogens, increased significantly. Bacillus administration resulted in normal levels of abundance of Firmicutes and Proteobacteria. Analysis of bacterial genera showed that Salmonella challenge decreased the population of Lactobacillus, the most abundant genus, and increased populations of Pseudomonas and Flavobacterium genera by a factor of 3 to 5. On the other hand, Bacillus administration caused the abundance of the Lactobacillus genus to recover to control levels and decreased the population of Pseudomonas significantly. Further analysis of operational taxonomic units revealed a high abundance of genes associated with two-component systems and secretion systems in the SAL group, whereas the PRO group had more genes associated with ribosomes. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that B. subtilis CSL2 administration can modulate the microbiota in HLB laying hens, potentially acting as a probiotic to protect against Salmonella Gallinarum infection.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.119-126
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• 2021

Objective: This study aims to evaluate the effects of dietary supplement of rubber seed oil on production performance, egg quality, and yolk fatty acid composition in laying hens during a 16-week feeding trial period. Methods: Forty-eight 25-week-old laying hens of Hy-Line Brown were randomly divided into three groups. Each group comprised four replicates and each replicate had four birds. Rubber seed oil was incorporated into a corn-soybean meal basal diet by 3.5% (group I), 4.5% (group II), or 0 (control group) and equivalent nutrition was supplied for the test groups and the control group. The performance related values were determined using standard or well established methods. Results: No significant difference was found in the production performance, the egg quality, the composition of saturated fatty acids, and the content of cholesterol and monounsaturated fatty acids in the yolk within the three groups. Interestingly, both test groups achieved a significantly higher content of linoleic acid, α-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid and a significantly lower content of arachidonic acid (p<0.05) compared with the control group. With the increased level of dietary rubber seed oil, there was an increasing trend in the content of n-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), n-3 PUFA and total PUFA, but a declining trend in the n-6/n-3 ratio. Conclusion: These results demonstrate that the rubber seed oil supplemented diet effectively improved the total PUFA content in eggs without impairing the layers' production performance and the egg quality.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.582-586
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• 2006

This experiment was conducted to investigate the dietary effect of garlic powder (GP) and copper (Cu) on laying performances and the cholesterol content and quality characteristics of eggs during storage in laying hens. A total of one hundred and eighty, 50-wk-old, Hy-Line Brown layers were divided into 6 groups with 3 replicates per group (10 layers per replicate) and fed one of six diets containing GP 0%, GP 1%, GP 3%, GP 5%, Cu 200 ppm, or GP 3%-Cu 200 ppm for 5 wks. There were no differences in the laying performances and feed intakes bertween treatments. Eggshell strength, eggshell thickness and yolk color were also not affected by feeding of GP and Cu. With increasing dietary GP, Haugh unit was linearly increased after 2 wk of storage (p<0.05). The levels of serum total cholesterol in hens fed diets containing GP or Cu were lower than that of the control (p<0.05), but high density lipoprotein-cholesterol was not influenced by dietary GP or Cu. The content of egg yolk cholesterol from hens fed diets containing GP or Cu was significantly decreased from that of the control, except for the GP 1% group. Based on the results of this experiment, the decrease of Haugh unit during storage was alleviated by feeding of GP. The feeding of GP or Cu alone and in combination altered the cholesterol fractions in serum and reduced the content of egg yolk cholesterol in laying hens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.24 no.10
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• pp.1447-1455
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• 2011

Sixty four, 30-week-old, Lohmann Brown-Lite laying hens were randomly allocated to one of four treatments with eight replicates per treatment and two hens per replicate for a 10 week study. The control diet was a high energy (11.81 MJ/kg) diet and the moderate energy (11.39 MJ/kg) diets were formulated dropping the level of animal fat. The three moderate energy diets were fed either unsupplemented (0.0%) or supplemented with 0.05 or 0.10% glycine. There were no significant differences (p>0.05) in hen-day egg production, egg weight, feed intake or feed conversion between birds fed the unsupplemented moderate energy and high energy diets. Significant differences were detected concerning egg components and quality measurements as assessed by albumen percentage (p = 0.02), yolk weight (p = 0.02), yolk percentage (p<0.01), yolk to albumen ratio (p<0.01) and yolk color (p = 0.01) between birds fed the unsupplemented moderate and high energy diets. Glycine supplementation of the moderate energy diet linearly increased (p<0.01) egg weight and feed intake with no significant (p>0.05) effects on egg production or feed conversion. Glycine supplementation significantly increased egg content (p<0.01), albumen weight (p<0.01) and percentage (p<0.01) as well as yolk weight (p<0.01) while yolk percentage (p = 0.04), yolk to albumen ratio (p = 0.01) and egg shell percentage (p<0.01) were linearly decreased. Supplementation with glycine produced a tendency (p = 0.09) towards an increase in the percentage of large eggs (63-72.9 g) produced with a concomitant decrease in the percentage of small (below 53 g) eggs (p = 0.09). The overall results of this study indicate that glycine supplementation of laying hen rations has the potential to increase egg production and weight. These increases appeared to be mediated through increases in feed intake and the ileal digestibility of fat and energy.