Effect of dietary iodine on production of iodine enriched eggs

Aim: Objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different levels of iodine supplementation on iodine content of eggs in laying hens. Materials and Methods: In the experiment, 135 laying hens (White Leghorn) of 55 weeks age were randomly distributed to 5 dietary treatments; each group contained 27 laying hens distributed in three replicates of 9 birds each. Diet T1 was control basal layer diet without iodine enrichment in which iodine content (I2) was as per NRC recommendation. Basal diets were supplemented with calcium iodate (Ca (IO3)2) at 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg/kg in T2, T3, T4 and T5 groups, respectively. The iodine content in the calcium iodate is 65.21%, therefore, the diets T2, T3, T4 and T5 contained 3.25, 6.50, 9.75 and 13.0 ppm iodine, respectively. The laying hens were fed the respective experimental diets ad libitum during the experimental period of 10-week. The iodine content of egg yolk and albumen was analyzed at the end of 5th and 10th week of the experiment. Economics of feeding for the production of iodine enriched egg was calculated at the end of the experiment. Results: Increasing iodine levels in diet of hens from 0.45 to 13.0 ppm significantly increased egg iodine concentration, the highest concentration of egg iodine was observed in the group fed diet supplemented with 13.0 ppm iodine followed by those fed 9.75, 6.50, 3.25 and 0.45 ppm iodine in diet. There was no significant difference in the iodine levels of unboiled versus boiled eggs. Therefore, the consumers are ensured to receive the optimal levels of iodine from boiled iodine-enriched eggs. Among different diets, minimum and significantly lower feeding cost (Rs. per dozen or per kg eggs) was noticed in hens allotted T3 diet (6.50 ppm I2). However, feeding cost of hens receiving 3.25 and 9.25 ppm I2 was statistically (p