Effect Of Quercetin On Performance And Digestion And Absorption Of The Nutriment In Laying Hens

240of39-week-old laying hens were randomly divided into4groups, with6replicates per group and10hens per replicate. Control was fed basal diets, treatments were fed basal diets supplemented with0.02%,0.04%,0.06%quercetin, respectively. Effect of quercetin on performance in laying hens was studied. Theexperiment lasted for8weeks. The research on effect of quercetin on performance, nutrients apparentmetabolic rate, cecum bacteria and serum traits was conducted using single factor experiment design, and thepossibility of quercetin as functional feed additives was explored. It may provide a theoretical basis forapplying quercetin to livestock production.The study included four parts as follows:1. Effect of quercetin on performance in laying hensCompared with control, laying rate was significantly increased by0.02%、0.04%quercetin (P<0.05);ratio of feed to egg was significantly decreased (P<0.05), and daily egg weight was significantly improved(P<0.05) by0.04%quercetin.2. Effect of quercetin on apparent metabolic rate of nutrients in laying hensCompared with control, apparent metabolic rate of crude protein was significantly increased by0.04%quercetin (P<0.01), apparent metabolic rate of Ca were significantly increased by0.04%and0.06%quercetin (P<0.05), there was a decreasing trend in apparent metabolic rate of EE (P=0.09).3. Effects of quercetin on cecum bacteria in laying hensCompared with control, E. coli was significantly decreased by0.04%and0.06%quercetin (P<0.01),total aerobic bacteria was significantly reduced by quercetin (P<0.01), Lactobacillus had the increase trend(P=0.09), Bifidobacterium was significantly increased by quercetin (P<0.05).4. Effect of quercetin on serum traits in laying hens.Compared with control, serum cholesterol, triglyceride, albumin and phosphorus in all treatments werenot affected by quercetin (P>0.05), serum urea nitrogen was decreased by0.06%quercetin (P<0.05), totalprotein in serum was significantly increased by0.04%and0.06%quercetin (P<0.05), and globulin in serumwas significantly increased by0.04%and0.06%quercetin (P<0.01), serum glucose was decreased by0.04%and0.06%quercetin (P<0.05), serum albumin was increased by0.06%quercetin (P<0.05), serumcalcium was increased by0.04%and0.06%quercetin (P<0.05).Conclusion:0.04%Quercetin improved performance in laying hens via increasing thebeneficialbacteria (Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium) and reducing harmful bacteria (Escherichia coli and Totalaerobic bacteria) growth, improving apparent metabolic rate of crude protein and Ca. Theoptimum quercetin supplemention for increasing laying rate in laying hens is0.4g/kg.