Performance and egg quality of laying hens fed diets containing aflatoxin, fumonisin and adsorbent

Abstract

The effects of aflatoxin and fumonisin and their combination on egg production and quality, as well as the efficacy of a mycotoxin adsorbent in reducing or eliminating these effects in commercial layers. A number of 168 layers with initial age of 37 weeks were submitted to an experimental period of 56 days. A completely randomized experimental design in a 3x2+1 factorial arrangement was applied (3 treatments with mycotoxins: aflatoxin (AF), fumonisin (FU), or aflatoxin + fumonisin (AF+FU); 2 treatments with or without adsorbent; and a control group that was fed no mycotoxins, nor adsorbent), totaling 7 treatments with 6 replicated of 4 birds/cage. The dietary inclusion levels were 1ppm AF, 25ppm FU, and 2 kg adsorbent/ton feed. Birds fed AF presented the lowest percentage of lay (p=0.0594). Egg mass was the lowest (p<0.05) in the AF+FU treatment (49.49g). The treatment with AF resulted in higher eggshell thickness and strength (p<0.05) than the FU treatment and the control group. The inclusion of the adsorbent in the AF contaminated feed reduced eggshell strength, which returned to levels similar to those of the control group. The observed changes indicate that aflatoxin is toxic at a concentration of 1ppm, and that the effects of fumonisin were less evident as a function of the low dose applied. The inclusion of the glucan (2kg/ton) effectively reverted some of the toxic effects of aflatoxin and, at lower extension, those of fumonisin, when these mycotoxins were invidually added to commercial layer feeds.

Biological Control of Aflatoxin on Egg Production Performance of Laying Hens

“…As stated by Aravind et al [16], aflatoxin has been known to influence the metabolism of poultry, reducing the activity of enzyme that digest starch, protein, lipids, and also decreases blood protein. Contrary to these findings, Siloto et al [17] did not observe any significant changes in the FCR of birds in his study. Birds fed ACDTB had the lowest weight gain.…”

Effect of dietary aflatoxin B 1 on growth, fecundity and tissue accumulation in gibel carp during the stage of gonad development

“…Some studies have confirmed that AFB 1 could also function to inhibit some aspects of poultry reproduction (Devegowda and Ravikiran, 2008;Siloto et al, 2011;Zaghini et al, 2005). Aflatoxins incorporated into the feed of laying hens may cause relevant lesions in ovaries.…”

Toxicity of Senna occidentalis seeds in laying hens and its effects on egg production

“…Although it is well known that toxins such as aflatoxin (Siloto et al, 2011;Lee et al, 2012), and alkaloid pyrrolizidinic plants (Eröksüz et al, 2003;Diaz et al, 2014) can compromise egg production, little importance has been given to the effects of chronic exposure to low levels of S. occidentalis seeds on laying hen production.…”