著者
Jae-Hong Park Yong-Min Kim In-Ho Kim
出版者
Japan Poultry Science Association
雑誌
The Journal of Poultry Science (ISSN:13467395)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.55, no.1, pp.47-53, 2018 (Released:2018-01-25)
参考文献数
55
被引用文献数
6

This study was designed to investigate the effects of dietary fenugreek seed extract (FSE) supplementation on egg production, egg quality, blood profiles, cecal microflora, and excreta noxious gas emission in laying hens. A total of 384 laying hens (26-weeks old, Hyline-brown) were fed three different levels of FSE (0, 0.05, and 0.1%) in a cornsoybean diet for 6 weeks. The inclusion of FSE in the laying hen diet did not affect egg production, feed intake, or feed conversion among treatments; however, egg weight, eggshell breaking strength, eggshell thickness, and yolk color increased in FSE-fed groups (linear, P<0.05). Supplemental FSE decreased the serum total cholesterol concentration, whereas the HDL-cholesterol concentration increased in the FSE fed-groups (linear, P<0.05). FSE led to an increase in cecal Lactobacillus number (linear, P<0.05), and a decrease in Escherichia coli number (quadratic, P<0.05) and excreta ammonia gas emission (linear, P<0.05). These results suggest that the addition of FSE does not increase egg production, but may affect egg quality, serum total- and HDL-cholesterol concentration, and cecal microflora. FSE also decreased ammonia gas emission in laying hen excreta.