Productivity of laying hens and morphological parameters of eggs under the influence of astaxanthin and lycopene

Abstract

The introduction of feed for poultry carotenoids that are not transformed in the body, including lycopene and astaxanthin, causes an attractive commercial appearance of chicken egg yolks. The production of high-quality and safe table eggs involves limiting the use of synthetic yolk dyes and switching to natural dyes, including tomato and seaweed products. The aim of this study was to determine the egg productivity of poultry, morphological composition of eggs, as well as feed and water intake with the addition of oil extracts of lycopene (20, 40 and 60 mg/kg or feed) or astaxanthin (10, 20 and 30 mg/kg of feed) to the diet. laying hens. The experiment was performed on 45 chickens of the High Line W36 cross at the age of 24 weeks. Each additive was fed to laying hens for 30 days in increasing concentrations. The use of lycopene or astaxanthin in different doses to laying hens did not have a negative impact on the clinical condition of the bird and behavior, did not cause death of birds of the experimental groups throughout the experiment. The condition of feathers and visible mucous membranes in chickens during the use of experimental diets was characteristic of clinically healthy birds. It was found that the addition of lycopene at doses of 20, 40 and 60 mg/kg and astaxanthin at doses of 10, 20 and 30 mg/kg of compound feed for 30 days did not significantly affect feed consumption and egg productivity. Increasing the content of astaxanthin to 20 and 30 mg/kg of compound feed, as well as lycopene to 60 mg/kg of compound feed resulted in a slight decrease in water consumption by laying hens. Feeding laying hens supplements of astaxanthin oil extract at doses of 10, 20 and 30 mg/kg or lycopene at doses of 20, 40 and 60 mg/kg of compound feed for 90 days did not significantly affect the weight of eggs, as well as the weight of protein, yolk and shell. Additions of lycopene and astaxanthin oil extracts to the diet of laying hens may be promising for use in correcting the color of egg yolks.