Productive Performance and Immunocompetence of Commercial Laying Hens Given Diets Supplemented with Eucalyptus

Abstract

A study was conducted to determine the effect of Eucalyptus leaf powder supplementation on productive performance and immune response of brown Hy-line laying hens. Sixty brown Hy-line layers were equally divided into four groups. They were fed diet containing 0, 1, 2 and 3g Eucalyptus leaf powder/kg diet form 46 to 54 weeks of age. Egg production (weight and number) was recorded daily. Body weight and feed consumption were recorded every 4 weeks. Cell mediated immunity was determined at 54 weeks of age. At the end of the experiment, internal and external egg quality measurements were determined. The present results revealed that supplementation of Eucalyptus at the rate of 3g/kg diet significantly increased egg number compared to the other groups. Likewise, the hens fed a diet containing 3g Eucalyptus produced significantly higher egg mass compared to remaining groups. However, there was no significant difference among treated groups for egg weight. There was no significant difference among treated groups for all egg quality traits, except for breaking strength. Whereas the eggs produced from hen fed a diet containing 3g Eucalyptus had a significantly higher breaking strength compared to other treated groups. With respect to immune response, it could be noticed that the hens fed diets supplemented with 2 or 3g Eucalyptus were significantly hyper responder to PHA-P injection compared to other groups. Moreover, the Eucalyptus supplementation at the rate of 2 and 3g/kg diet significantly decreased the H/L ratio of laying hens. In summary, the current experiment has shown that the inclusion of Eucalyptus at the level of 3g/kg diet is useful for improving the productive performance and immunity of commercial laying hens.