Influence of the energy and digestible lysine contents of the diet on performance and egg quality traits of brown-egg laying hens from 19 to 59 weeks of age

Abstract

The influence of nutrient density and standardized ileal digestible lys ( DLys ) content of the diet on egg production and egg quality traits, was studied in brown-egg laying hens from 19 to 59 wk of age. The experimental design was completely randomized with eight treatments arranged as a 2×4 factorial with two AMEn concentrations (2,680 and 2,780 kcal/kg) and four levels of DLys (0.68, 0.72, 0.76, and 0.80%). Each treatment was replicated nine times and the experimental unit was a cage with nine hens. Hen production, egg components (proportion of albumen, yolk, and shell), egg quality traits (Haugh units, egg shell strength, and incidence of broken, dirty, and shell-less eggs) were measured by period (28 d) and cumulatively. Data were analyzed as a completely randomized design with energy concentration, level of DLys, and their interactions as main effects. In addition, the effects of the level of DLys on the variables studied, were partitioned into its linear and quadratic components. No interactions between AMEn and DLys content of the diet were detected for any of the traits studied and therefore, only main effects are presented. An increase in the AMEn concentration of the diet from 2,680 to 2,780 kcal/kg increased energy intake ( P < 0.05) and egg weight ( P < 0.001) and improved feed conversion ratio ( P < 0.05). An Increase in DLys from 0.68 to 0.80% did not affect the number of eggs produced but increased linearly egg weight ( P < 0.01) and egg mass production ( P < 0.05). Diet did not affect egg quality. In conclusion, an increase in the AMEn content of the diet from 2,680 to 2,780 kcal/kg increased egg weight and improved feed efficiency. Laying hens require no more than 744 mg DLys/d (corresponding to 0.68% DLys) to optimize egg production. However, when the objective is to maximize egg weight, hens should consume at least 843 mg DLys/d (corresponding to 0.76% D Lys).

The role of hen body weight and diet nutrient density in an extended laying cycle

“…In the current study diet nutrient density did not influence hen-day EP at 24, 69 ( Muir et al, 2022b ) or 89 WOA ( Table 4 ), nor cumulative EP from 18 to 24, 18 to 50 ( Muir et al, 2022a ), 18 to 69 ( Muir et al, 2022b ) or 18 to 89 WOA ( Table 5 ). Scappaticcio et al (2021) also report similar EP from 19 to 59 WOA from hens receiving diets of different energy levels. In contrast diets of higher energy levels have been reported to continuously improve hen-day EP ( Latshaw et al, 1990 ) while others found EP varied across the production period.…”

“…Aligning with our findings of improved FCR during the earlier stages of the production cycle, Wu et al (2005) also reported an improvement in FCR between 21 and 36 WOA for hens receiving a HND diet. More nutrient dense diets also improved hen feed efficiency across longer 19 to 59 WOA ( Scappaticcio et al, 2021 ) and 19 to 70 WOA ( dePersio et al, 2015 ) production phases. However, it should also be noted that the studies of Wu et al (2005) , Scappaticcio et al (2021) , and dePersio et al (2015) involved the HND diet being fed throughout the entire study period, compared to its short-term provision from 18 to 24 WOA only in the current study.…”

“…Higher EW was also reported during specific periods throughout a 49 to 60 WOA production cycle for birds receiving more nutrient dense diets, including 49 to 52 and the entire 49 to 60 WOA period but not the intervening 53 to 56 and 57 to 60 WOA timeframes ( Khatibi et al, 2021 ). The continual feeding of a HND diet also generated overall higher EW throughout the relatively short 21 to 36 WOA ( Wu et al, 2005 ), intermediate 19 to 59 WOA ( Scappaticcio et al, 2021 ) and longer 19 to 70 WOA ( dePersio et al, 2015 ) production cycles. This suggests that the ongoing provision of a HND diet may support heavier EW, however both Ribeiro et al (2014) and Perez-Bonilla et al (2012b) found no differences in EW under continual feeding of a more energy dense diet.…”

Natural Products of Plants and Animal Origin Improve Albumen Quality of Chicken Eggs

“…In another study, (34), suggested that supplementing diets that enhance upregulation of AA transporters would enhance albumen synthesis and quality. On the other hand, dietary threonine (186), total sulfur amino acid (178), D-lysine (187), amino acid-complexed manganese (168) and L-citrulline, a non-protein AA (188) did not affect albumen quality. However, decreasing albumen indices with dietary AA supplementation may be due to decreased albumen synthesis (33) and the feeding regime of the AA (179).…”

Dietary Fructooligosaccharides Effectively Facilitate the Production of High-Quality Eggs via Improving the Physiological Status of Laying Hens

“…Furthermore, egg production is sensitive to amino acid nutrition imbalance [34]. There is evidence that essential amino acids (methionine, threonine, isoleucine, and lysine) exerted a positive influence on egg production [35][36][37], probably because amino acids provide support for high protein synthesis which is often a prerequisite for improved egg production. Thus, the improved digestibility of these essential amino acids in this study suggests their utilization for egg production.…”