• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.417-421
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• 1999

This experiment examined the effects of feeding Aspergillus oryzae (AO) culture to laying hens, on fecal microbial populations, fecal pH and moisture content, egg quality, and metabolizabilities of several nutrients. Sixteen commercial 38-wk-old laying hens were randomly allotted to four diets: control; with 0.15% locally produced AO culture; with 0.3% locally produced AO culture, and; or with 0.3% imported AO. Each treatment consisted of four replicates (cages) containing one bird per cage according to a completely randomized design. After 4 wk, AO were recovered in the feces of birds fed the AO diets, indicating that AO might pass through the fore-gut alive and become active in the hind gut. The number of Lactobacillus spp. in feces was higher in all treated groups than that of the control, indicating that AO would provide a beneficial environment for the Lactobacillus spp. to proliferate in the intestine. The number of fecal E. coli was significantly reduced by the addition of AO. A similar trend was also found for aerobic bacteria. Although not significant, fecal moisture contents tended to be reduced by the addition of AO. Fecal pH was not significantly different among the treatments. The addition of AO did not affect the various economic traits of eggs. Metabolizabilities of gross energy and dry matter measured during the 5th wk were increased by the AO supplementation. It appears that AO culture alone could be used as a probiotic supplement for layers.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.17 no.12
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• pp.1725-1728
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• 2004

An experiment was conducted to investigate the efficiency of transfer of dietary iron sources to eggs of laying hens. Eighty ISA-Brown laying birds of 30 wk old were housed in 40 cages of 2 birds each. Eight birds in four cages were assigned to one of the following ten treatments: T1; control, T2; 100 ppm iron supplementation with iron-methionine chelate (Fe-Met-100), T3; Fe-Met- 200, T4; Fe-Met-300, T5; 100 ppm iron supplementation with iron sulfate ($FeSO_4$-100), T6; $FeSO_4$-200, T7; $FeSO_4$-300, T8; 100 ppm iron supplementation with Availa-$Fe^{(R)}$ (Availa-Fe-100), T9; Availa-Fe-200 and T10; Availa-Fe-300. Results of 40 d feeding trial showed that there were no consistent responses in laying performance by source and level of iron supplementation. However, eggshell strength and color were improved by Fe supplementation. Egg iron content was maximized at 10-15 days after feeding supplemental Fe. Fe- Met was the most effective source in enriching Fe of eggs followed by Availa-Fe and $FeSO_4$. Increasing supplementary Fe level more than 100 ppm was not effective in Fe-Met and Availa-Fe treatments. Average Fe enrichment of 18% was achieved after feeding Fe-Met-100 for 15 d. In conclusion, enrichment of Fe in egg could be effectively achieved by supplementation of Fe-Met-100 for 15 d.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.45-54
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• 2002

This study was conducted to evaluate the feeding value of ascidian tunic shell the effects of its dietary supplementation on laying performance, egg-yolk pigmentation, egg-shell strength and egg taurine content. A total of 168 brown layers at the age of 29wks in commercial cage were fed for 4 wks with 7 different diets containing ascidian tunic shel1(AST) at varying levels of 0$\sim$5% Dm or 0% AST with 100ppm carophyll red. No differences were found in egg production and weight among the treatments indicating that ascidian tunic shell did not adversely affect the laying performances. Adding the ascidian tunic shell to the diets increased egg-yolk pigmentation compared to the control and resulted in simillar or better effect on egg-yolk pigmentation compared to 100ppm carophyll red. The data suggest that ascidian tunic shell may be used as feed ingredients in layer diet enrichment of egg-yolk pigmentation in the place of carophyll red(chemical pigment). Specific gravity and breaking strength of egg shell were significantly increased by the adding ascidian tunic shell to the diet, suggesting that ascidian tunic shell may be used as feed ingredients for increasing egg shell strength. Also taurine content of egg was significantly increased with increasing supplementation of ascidian tunic shell to the diet(p<0.05). Therefore, ascidian tunic shell may be used as feed ingredients in laying hen diet to improve egg quality such as egg-yolk pigmentation, egg-shell strength and egg taurine enrichment.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.277-283
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• 1993

In the present study, observations were made on the life-history of Lymnaea viridis under laboratory conditions, involving incubation period of the eggs and their hatching rate, shell length of the newly hatched snails, sexual maturity, size of the snails when the snail produced the first egg-mass, the number of eggs in each egg-mass, egg-laying, ovipostion, growth rate of the snails, and longevity of the snail. At temperatures between $19.8^{\circ}C$ to $22.5^{\circ}C$, incubation period of the eggs occupied 10~12 days, and after beginning of hatching, all young snails emerged completely from the egg-mass within 5 days. The hatching rate was 88%. The average shell length of the newly hatched snails was about 0.064cm. The rate of growth was extraordinarily rapid under good laboratory conditions. When two snails were reared in one culture vessel($20{\times}15{\times}5cm$) with blue-green algae at about $22^{\circ}C$, snail growth was optimal, taking 37 days to reach 1.2cm in shell length. Sexual maturity reached in about 19 days. The size of the snails at sexual maturity was $0.78{\pm}0.05cm$ in length and $0.47{\pm}0.04cm$ in width. The first egg-masses produced were $0.59{\pm}0.22cm$ in length and $0.34{\pm}0.08cm$ in width, and contained 7~38 eggs. The eggs are usually laid in water. The egg-laying was affected by food and temperature. Snails fed with blue-green algae at about $22^{\circ}C$ produced larger egg-masses than the snails fed with fish food at about $26^{\circ}C$. Under conditions of continuous activity and growth, the maximum expectation of life appears to be 109~350(mean 230) days. And the shell length of snails at death were 1.39~1.64cm.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.39-46
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• 1996

An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding split diets for a.m. and p.m. in laying hens on egg shell qualities, and to study the relationship among the methods of measuring shell quality with 480 ISA Brown layers during 32∼36, 52∼56 and 72∼76 wk of age, respectively. A total of 1,080 eggs were collected from 6 treatment groups in every laying period and weighed individually. Egg specific gravity, egg breaking strength, shell thickness and shell percentage of eggs were measured, and then correlation coefficients (r) and regression equations were calculated. By feeding the split diets for a.m. and p.m. differing in ME, CP, and Ca levels, and as the Ca level of the p. m. diet increased, eggshell qualities were improved(P<0.05). The correlation coefficient values indicate that shell percentage, shell thickness and egg specific gravity are highly correlated with the egg breaking strength(P<0.01).

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.880-888
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• 2012

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of inuloprebiotics (INPs), an alternative antibacterial growth promotor, from Jerusalem artichoke extract (Helianthus tuberosus L.) on egg production and quality in Hyline brown laying hens. The hens were divided randomly into four treatment groups and housed in individual cages for 10 weeks: a control group (0 ppm INP) (T1), 450 ppm (T2), 600 ppm (T3), and 750 ppm (T4). Egg production, egg weight, Haugh unit, eggshell thickness, and breaking strength were significantly higher in all of the INP-treated groups compared with the control (p<0.05). Egg cholesterol was highest in the T1 group and decreased with INP addition from 15.04 to 17.98% (p<0.05). Compared with the T1 group, triglycerides in the blood and in total cholesterol decreased significantly in groups T2, T3, and T4 by 21.71-24.07% and 27.17-30.36%, respectively (p<0.05). The growth of cecum Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus was stimulated in groups T2, T3, and T4 compared with T1, whereas the growth of Escherichia and Salmonella was clearly inhibited (p<0.05). The results suggest that the addition of 450 ppm INP to the diet of laying hens can improve egg production and egg quality.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.183-189
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• 2003

This study was carried out to evaluate effect of dietary green tea by-products (GTB) on laying performance and quality of eggs in hens. A total of 96 laying hens (22-week-old) "Tetran Brown" were allotted to four dietary treatments, which containing 0, 2, 4 and 6% green tea-by products. The results showed that the egg production increased (P＜0.05) in layers fed diets containing 4% or 6% green tea-by products compared to the layers fed control no GTB. Egg weight and egg mass in layers fed diets containing 2% green tea by-products significantly decreased compared to those in the other groups (P<0.05). The feed intake was lower in layers fed diets containing 2% and 6% green tea by-products. The feed conversion ratio was lower (P<0.05) in layers fed diets containing 4% or 6% green tea by-product supplementation respectively. The egg shell thickness was no significantly different between layers fed the control and green tea by-product diets (P>0.05). The egg yolk cholesterol tended to decrease when layers fed diets containing green tea by-products, although the differences were not significant (P＞0.05). The linolenic and docosahexaenoic (DHA) acid contents in egg yolk significantly increased in layers fed diets containing different levels green tea by-products compared to those fed control diet (P<0.05). These results suggest that inclusion of green tea by-products in layer diets is suitable for hens without negative effects on egg composition.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.786-791
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• 2010

The effects of fermented garlic powder on production performance, egg quality, blood profiles and fatty acid composition of egg yolk in laying hens were studied in a 35-d experiment. Two-hundred and forty (ISA brown) layers aged 41 weeks were randomly allocated into the following four treatments: i) CON (basal diet); ii) G1 (CON+fermented garlic powder 1.0%); iii) G2 (CON+fermented garlic powder 2.0%) and iv) G3 (CON+fermented garlic powder 3.0%). There were no differences (p>0.05) among treatments in egg production, egg weight, eggshell breaking strength and eggshell thickness throughout the whole experimental period. However, yolk height was increased significantly (p<0.05) by the addition of fermented garlic powder during the 5th week while yolk color was greater (p<0.05) in G2 and G3 than in CON and G1 in the 5th week. Compared with CON, Haugh unit was increased (p<0.05) in response to fermented garlic powder treatments during the 5th week. No significant effects on total protein, albumin and IgG were observed in response to any of the treatments over the experimental period (p>0.05). There was a significant (p<0.05) reduction in plasma cholesterol concentration when the dietary level of fermented garlic powder was increased from 0.0 to 3.0%. The levels of saturated fatty acids (SFA) were significantly decreased (p<0.05) in response to G2 and G3 while monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) were higher (p<0.05) in G2 and G3 treatment groups than in CON and G1. Compared with other treatments, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) and PUFA:SFA ratio were higher (p<0.05) in G3. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that addition of fermented garlic powder reduced plasma cholesterol concentration and did not cause adverse effects on production performance. Moreover, addition of 3.0% garlic powder decreased SFA but increased PUFA and PUFA:SFA ratio in egg yolk.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.315-318
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• 2009

Quantitative fecal egg counts represented as the number of eggs per gram of feces (EPG) are generally a reliable parameter to estimate the worm burden of intestinal and hepatic parasitoses. Although Haplorchis taichui (Digenea: Heterophyidae) is one of the most common minute human intestinal flukes, little is known about the relationship between EPG and the actual worm burden in patients or the severity of the disease. In the present study, fecal samples were collected from 25 villagers in northern Thailand before and after praziquantel treatment. The EPG values of each participant were determined by the modified cellophane thick smear method, and adult worms were collected from the whole stool after the treatment. Eggs per day per worm (EPDPW) of H. taichui were estimated 82 from egg counts and expelled worms. The EPG was not well correlated with the worm burden, and a reverse correlation was observed between the EPDPW and the worm burden.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.591-595
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• 1993

A trial involving 200 day-old 288 Shaver chicks in a randomized experimental design tested the effects of using diets based on local feed materials (LF). Commercial imported counterpart feeds (CF) served as control diets. Birds were raised from 0-6 w on Chick Starter feed, from 7-17 w on Pullet Developer feed and from 18 to 72 w on Layer feed. The results obtained indicated that there were no significant differences in the performance of birds fed LF and CF diets during the Chick Starter and Pullet Developer phases. During the Laying phase, there were also no differences in laying percentage, (66 vs 65) and in egg size (62 vs 63 g) between LF and CF diets. Feed cost was lower on LF diet had a better egg yolk colour score, (4 vs 1) than those fed on CF diet. Feed cost was lower on LF than CF diets and the feed cost for producing eggs was approximately 50 percent lower on LF compared to CF (P$ 0.06 vs P$ 0.12). It was concluded that the use of locally available feed resources produces comparable performance to that obtained using commercial imported feeds. Secondly, using local materials markedly reduces feed cost and cost of producing eggs.