IMPROVEMENT OF QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE EGGS PRODUCTION ISSUED FROM LAYING HENS, UNDER THERMAL STRESS CONDITIONS. A NUTRITIONAL APPROACH
Cristina Gabriela Radu-Rusu, I.M. Pop, D. Simeanu, Aida Albu
Abstract
The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of sodium bicarbonate and ascorbic acid feeding utilization in fighting the undesired thermal stress effects onto the quality of the eggs produced by commercial hybrids at the end of the laying cycle. The trial was conducted at the Animal Husbandry Faculty's Experimental Farm in Iasi, Romania, during a period of 4 weeks. A total of 90 hens, 57 week old ISA Brown layers were allocated to a completely randomized experimental design with three treatments (C- Control group, L1+250 mg ascorbic acids, L2+1% sodium bicarbonate), with 30 birds each. Although the usage of feed additives generated supplemental feeding expenses, (+13.4% in L1 group, +10.4% in L2 group respectively), compared with C group, the beneficial effects induced by these additives on the quantitative and qualitative eggs production produced slightly higher revenues in experimental treatments than in the control one (0.14% in L1 group and +1.02% in L2 group).
