Influence of Enzyme and/or Lysolecithin Supplementation on Performance, Nutrient Digestibility and Egg Quality for Laying Hens

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to further evaluate the effects of lysolecithin supplementation on laying hen performance and to determine whether or not there are any synergistic effects when a combination of enzyme and lysolecithin are fed to laying hens. Eighty, 32-week-old, Lohmann Brown-Lite laying hens were randomly allocated to one of five diets based on corn, wheat and animal fat as energy sources with soybean meal, canola meal and corn gluten meal providing the supplementary protein. The experimental diets comprised a high energy diet formulated to provide 11.81 MJ/kg of ME (positive control) as well as four moderate energy diets formulated to provide approximately 11.38 MJ/kg of ME. The moderate energy diets were fed either unsupplemented (negative control), or supplemented with 0.1% enzyme (7 U/g of α-1-6 galactosidase and 22 U/g of β 1-4 mannanase), 0.1% lysolecithin or the two additives in combination at the same levels as those used separately. There were eight replicates per treatment and two hens per replicate. There were no differences in egg production or egg weight between treatments (P>0.05). However, feed conversion was best for birds fed the diet supplemented with enzyme alone and poorest for birds fed the two additives in combination (P=0.04). The improved feed conversion for hens fed the enzyme supplemented diet appeared to be mediated by an increase in amino acid digestibility as digestibility coefficients for histidine, leucine, isoleucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine and threonine were significantly (P<0.01) higher for birds fed the moderate energy diet supplemented with enzyme than for the unsupplemented moderate energy diet. The improvement in feed conversion for birds fed the enzyme supplemented diet was accompanied by an increase in albumen weight and percentage and a decrease in the percentage of yolk and the ratio of yolk to albumin (P<0.01) in the eggs. There did not appear to be any synergistic effects between lysolecithin and enzyme on laying hen performance.