The Journal of Poultry Science
Online ISSN : 1349-0486
Print ISSN : 1346-7395
ISSN-L : 1346-7395
Nutrition and Feed
Effects of Using Artemisia annua Leaves, Probiotic Blend, and Organic Acids on Performance, Egg Quality, Blood Biochemistry, and Antioxidant Status of Laying Hens
Payam Baghban-KananiBabak Hosseintabar-GhasemabadSaba Azimi-YouvalariAlireza Seidavi Marco RagniVito LaudadioVincenzo Tufarelli
Author information
JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS FULL-TEXT HTML

2019 Volume 56 Issue 2 Pages 120-127

Details
Abstract

This study was performed to investigate and compare the effects of using Artemisia annua leaves, probiotic, and organic acid on the performance, egg quality, blood biochemistry, and antioxidant status of laying hens. In total, 288 Hy-Line W-36 commercial layers (32 weeks old) were divided into six groups with six replicates per group (eight birds per replicate) and were fed one of six experimental diets. The hens were fed either a corn-soybean meal basal diet (control) or the basal diet supplemented with 2.5% A. annua leaves (AA1), 5% A. annua leaves (AA2), 7.5% A. annua leaves (AA3), 0.1% probiotic (Pro), and 0.005% organic acid (Org), respectively. The experiment lasted 10 weeks. Results showed that there were differences in the feed conversion ratio (FCR) among experimental groups (P<0.05). The highest yolk color index and shell thickness were observed in hens fed AA3 and AA2 diets (P<0.05). Egg yolk cholesterol was decreased (P<0.01) by the diet containing AA3 and Pro compared to the other groups. The atherogenic index was lower (P<0.01) in the plasma of hens fed AA3 than those in other groups. The glutathione peroxidase activity (GSH-Px) and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in layers fed AA3 were lower and higher (P<0.05), respectively, than in layers fed the other diets. Moreover, the concentration of plasma cholesterol was decreased (P<0.05) in layers fed AA3 and Pro. In conclusion, feeding laying hens with A. annua leaves positively influenced the plasma antioxidant status, and the dietary inclusion of A. annua leaves plus a probiotic significantly decreased the egg yolk cholesterol, with no adverse effect on the egg productive traits.

Content from these authors
© 2019 by Japan Poultry Science Association

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons [Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International] license. In accordance with the license, anyone may download, reuse, copy, reprint, distribute, or modify articles published in the JPS for not-for-profit purposes, if they cite the original authors and source properly. If anyone remix, transform, or build upon the material, the user must distribute their contributions under the same license. For for-profit or commercial use, a written permission by the Editorial Board of JPS is mandatory.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Previous article Next article
feedback
Top