The Influence of Dietary Boron Supplementation on Performance and Some Physiological Parameters in Bandarah Chickens 2- Laying Period

Abstract

A total of one hundred hens and twenty cocks of Bandarah strain at 28 weeks of age were housed individually in single cages and distributed randomly among four treatment groups (25 hens and 5 cocks/ group) and the experiment ended at 44 wks of age. Birds in group1 were fed a basal diet and served as control group, the other three groups 2, 3 and 4 were fed a basal diet supplemented with 100, 200 and 300 mg boron/kg feed, respectively. Results indicated that supplemental boron to hens' diet had no significant effect on egg production, egg weight, egg mass, feed consumption and feed conversion compared with control group. Significant increases were observed for egg shell%, shell thickness and Haugh units with increasing the boron level. While shape index, albumen and yolk percentages were not affected by treatments. Supplemental boron significantly increased egg shell calcium, phosphorus and boron concentrations. Moreover, plasma minerals (Ca, P, Fe, Cu and B) were significantly increased with the increase of boron level. Hematological parameters (Hb, PCV, RBCs and WBCs) were improved by addition boron to layer diets. There was a significant increase in plasma total protein, globulin, glucose and serum T3 resulted from dietary boron. Lipid profile and liver function significantly improved for boron treatments. Additionally, semen quality, fertility and hatchability percentages significantly improved with boron at different levels compared with control value. It can be concluded that boron supplementation to layer diets had a positive effect on plasma minerals (Ca, P, Fe, Cu and B) and egg shell (Ca, P and B). However, egg quality, reproductive and physiological status were improved. It is suggested that up to 300 mg boron/kg diet could be used in layer diets without any adverse effect on laying hens performance.