Effect of fermented corn by-products on production performance, blood biochemistry, and egg quality indices of laying hens

Ru Yang, Anam Khalid, Fatima Khalid, Miao Ye, Yang Li, Kai Zhan, Yan Li, Wei Liu, Zaigui Wang

Residual wastes can be fermented by using probiotics to formulate a well-balanced diet for poultry. The current study was conducted to investigate the effect of fermented feed (FF) formulated by the supplementation of probiotics into corn by-products, on the production performance of laying hens. A total of 468 49-wk-old Hy-Line Brown chickens were randomly allocated into four treatments with 3 replicates, control group (basal diet), group I (4% FF, w/w), group II (8% FF, w/w), and antibiotic group (flavomycin, 50 mg/kg). Laying hens were housed in 3-tier cages (28 × 48 cm × 48 cm) and the temperature was maintained at 21 °C. The birds were fed 4.56 kg of feed to each group twice a day. Compared with the control group, the egg production and feed intake in the FF groups increased significantly. Egg weight in group I was higher than that of group II and antibiotic (P < 0.01) while that in group II was lower than control (P < 0.05). The feed-to-egg ratio of FF groups compared with control was decreased (P < 0.05). Eggshell strength and egg shape index in group II were decreased significantly when compared with the control group (P < 0.05). Yolk color, albumen height (AH), and Haugh unit (HU) in FF groups were improved compared with the control group and antibiotic group (P < 0.01). Yolk triglyceride level was significantly reduced in group II, compared with group I. These results indicated that the FF has no adverse effects and has beneficial effects on production performance and egg quality parameters of laying hens.