Effects Of Essential Oil And/or Organic Acids On The Performance,Egg Quality And Intestinal Health Of Laying Hens

With the development of poultry industry and the change of consumption for livestock product,presenting a new optimal scheme aiming at substituting antibiotics is becoming urgent increasingly.This study investigated the effects of essential oil and organic acids on the performance,egg quality,intestinal morphology,intestinal microbiota and activity of digestive enzyme,thus providing theoretical basis for safety and reasonable use of essential oil and organic acids.Exp.1 Effects of essential oil and organic acid supplementation in diet on performance and egg quality of laying hens from 21 to 35 weekThis experiment aimed at the performance and egg quality of laying hens from 21 to 35 week with diet supplementing essential oil and\or organic acid.756 20-week-old laying hens were randomly allocated to 4 groups,with 7 replicates per group and 18 chicken per replicate.The experiment contained 15 weeks and the treatments were designed as follows:(?)Control group with basal diet(C),(?)C + essential oil and organic acid compound(EOA),(?)C + essential oil(EO),(?)C + organic acid(OA).The results showed supplementing essential oil and\or organic acid had no significant effect on laying rate,egg weight,daily feed intake and fed to egg ratio of laying hen from 21 to 35 week(P>0.05).There was no significant difference on eggshell thickness,eggshell strength,egg albumen height and Haugh unit between groups(P>0.05).The supplement of essential oil,however,could improve yolk color of laying hen of 35 week significantly(P<0.05).Exp 2.Effects of essential oil and organic acid supplementation in diet on intestinal morphology,intestinal microbiota and activity of digestive enzyme of laying hens from 21 to 35 week.In this experiment,the effects of supplementing essential oil and\or organic acid on intestinal morphology,intestinal microbiota and activity of digestive enzyme of laying hen were studied by using bio-technique,such as paraffin section,HE dying and DNA sequencing.The experimental design was the same as that in former.Based on the results,There was on significant effect on villus height,crypt depth and the ratio of villus height to crypt depth of duodenum,jejunum and ileum(P>0.05).Supplementing essential oil and\or organic acid improved amylase activity,as well as chymotrypsin,of ileum without any significant difference on laying hen(P>0.05).No significant effect on Lactobacillus,Bifidobacteria.E.Colibacillus and salmonella was observed between groups(P>0.05).Compared with control group,essential oil and organic acid compound supplement significantly increased content of salmonella(P<0.05).In conclusion,supplementing essential oil and\or organic acid had no effect on performance of laying hen,essential oil supplemented alone in diet could improve yolk color.There was no significant difference on intestinal morphology and activity of digestive enzyme between treatments.In this experiment,essential oil and organic acid compound supplemented in diet probably against maintaining the homeostasis of cecal microbiota,what mechanism remains to be determined.