Citrullus lanatus essential oils inclusion in diets elicit nutraceutical effects on egg production, egg quality, and physiological characteristics in layer hens

Abstract

The study evaluated the effects of Citrullus lanatus essential oils inclusion in diet on egg production, egg quality, and physiological parameters in layer hens. A total of 72 White Leghorn point-of-lay hens at 18 wk were used for the study. The hens were randomly allocated to following 3 dietary treatments: 1) commercial layer diet (control), 2) commercial diet + 1 g C. lanatus essential oil/kg feed ( 1gCL ), and 3) commercial diet + 2 g C. lanatus essential oil/kg feed ( 2gCL ). Each treatment was replicated 8 times arranged in completely randomized design. From the results, an increase in total weight gain, average daily feed intake, and average daily gain was observed with inclusion of the C. lanatus essential oil. In addition, the inclusion of C. lanatus in diet improved the egg mass and feed conversion ratio ( FCR ). Hens fed C. lanatus –containing diets had higher egg mass (1gCL, 53.35 g ± 0.71; 2gCL, 53.99 ± 0.71 g) compared with the control (52.90 ± 0.71). The C. lanatus containing diets also had lower FCR than the control (1gCL [2.18 ± 0.22] and 2gCL [2.16 ± 0.22] vs. control [2.20 ± 0.71]). With regards to egg quality parameters, inclusion of C. lanatus oil appeared to reduce shell weight and shell ratio, while increasing albumen height and Haugh unit. Diets containing C. lanatus had significantly higher amounts of stearic acid, and linoleic acid was highest ( P < 0.05) in the 2gCL fed hens. Birds fed the 2gCL diet (15.29 ± 0.60) had the highest total polyunsaturated fatty acids, total n-6 fatty acids (14.81 ± 0.59) and also had the highest n-6/n-3 ratio. An increase hematological values was observed with inclusion of C. lanatus essential oils in diets. Moreover, tibia bone parameters were also significantly improved with inclusion of C. lanatus essential oils in diets. It can be concluded that C. lanatus essential oil positively affected egg production, and quality and health of layer hens can be used successfully as a natural feed additive.

Effects of photoperiod on performance, ovarian morphology, reproductive hormone level, and hormone receptor mRNA expression in laying ducks

“…These results may be ascribed to the positive effect of prolonging photoperiod on serum reproductive hormone level and ovarian follicle development ( Cui et al., 2019a ). Besides, the higher ADFI was always associated with more egg mass ( Marume et al., 2020 ), which was also verified by our result that consistent increases were observed in egg mass and ADFI, accompanied with no change in feed conversion ratio. The higher ADFI driving by appropriate photoperiod ( Schwean-Lardner et al., 2012 ) may be owing to the combination of better mobility and longer feeding ( Schwean-Lardner et al., 2013 , 2014 ; Cui et al., 2019b ).…”

Phytogenic Feed Additives in Poultry: Achievements, Prospective and Challenges

“…Dietary supplementation of EOs containing menthol, anethol and eugenol [ 39 ] as well as carvacrol alone [ 40 ], or combined with either thymol [ 41 , 42 , 43 ] or thymol and limonene [ 44 ] has been shown to promote growth performance of broiler chickens. Similar positive effects on production performance were obtained by supplementing laying hens diets with thymol and cinnamaldehyde [ 39 ], star anise oil [ 45 ], Citrullus lanatus EO [ 46 ], tea tree EO [ 47 ] and peppermint oil [ 48 ]. Several other studies have also evaluated the effects of supplementing black cumin ( Nigella sativa L.) seeds on broilers, quails and laying hens.…”

Effect of dietary supplementation of a phytogenic blend containing Schisandra chinensis, Pinus densiflora, and Allium tuberosum on productivity, egg quality, and health parameters in laying hens

“…The changes in size and structure of internal organs are important for predicting the effect of diet and its components on the development and function of organs in laying hens. Generally, as the size of the organ increases, the energy required to maintain the organ increases, which in turn decreases the amount of energy input to productivity [ 4 ]. Our results revealed that dietary SPA supplementation did not affect relative weights of internal organs (liver, spleen, heart, gizzard, jejunum, and cecum), intestinal length, intestine pH, and abdominal fat, which indicated that dietary supplementation with SPA up to 3 g/kg of diet could have no observed adverse effects on organ development.…”