The influence of fermented raw material in compound feed, on hens productivity and egg quality

The research was carried out in 2013–2014 at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences, Veterinary Academy, Faculty of Animal husbandry, Institute of animal rearing technologies . ISA Brown Layer hens which were 30 weeks old were assigned to 3 groups, where I group was control group, the rest groups were experimentals. 12 hens in each group and fed with experimental diets for 8 weeks: I (control) group – standart compound feed, II (experimental) group 6 % of fermented raw material in compound feed, and the last group (experimental) – 8 % of fermented raw material. All hens were kept under the same condition. All diets were formulated to meet or exceed the nutritional requirements of birds as suggested by NRC (1994). The hens were fed with 125 g compound feed per day and kept at the same holding conditions. The eggs were colected daily and weighted. During the trial, eggs were analysed every 14 days. Egg weight, albumen high, Haugh unit, intensity of egg yolk color are established by multifunctional automatic egg characteristics analyzer „Egg Multi-Tester EMT-5200“, hardness of eggshell – by „Egg Shell Force Gauge MODEL–II“ device, and thickness of eggshell – by electronic micrometer „MITUTOYO“. The hens were weighted at the experimental start and at the end. The following conclusions can be drawn based on the results of the research, based on hens laying persistency and egg quality: 1. The inclusion of fermented raw material had no negative effect on layers liveability; 2. The inclusion of fermented feed raw material decresed layer hen body weight during the trial period 5- 7 percent., comparing to control group(P0.05); 4. The inclusion of fermented feed raw material at 8 percent, increased hen laying persistency 2 percent, FCR increased at 1 percent, soiled egg production decreased at 1 percent and broken eggs were reduced at 2 percent, comparing to control group (P>0.05); 5. The inclusion of fermented feed additive in The I group, decreased egg weight, egg shell thickness at 1 percent, but there wero no effect in both experimental groups comparing egg yolk color to control group (P>0.05)