Effects of Dietary Essential Oils Supplementation on Egg Quality, Biochemical Parameters, and Gut Microbiota of Late-Laying Hens

Abstract

The objective of this study was to explore the effects of adding essential oils (EO) to diets on egg quality, biochemical parameters and intestinal flora of late laying hens. The number of 252 Dawu Golden Phoenix laying hens (55 weeks old) were randomly sorted into two groups: the control group (CG) fed a basal diet and the EO group fed a basal diet with 300 mg/kg of essential oils. The average egg weight, feed-to-egg ratio, and egg production rate were determined every week. The trial started at week 55 and lasted for 8 weeks. During the experiment’s last week, 36 eggs out of each group were chosen at random to test. In our study, dietary supplementation with EO considerably decreased the egg breaking rate (p = 0.01) and increased the shell-breaking strength (p = 0.04). The treatment group’s alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were considerably lower than those of the control group (p = 0.03). The EO group had substantially higher total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) and total superoxide dismutase (T-SOD) (p = 0.04 and p =0.03, respectively). However, there were no differences in alpha diversity indicators between the two groups. It is worth noting that Firmicutes were increased considerably (p < 0.05), while Spirochaetota and Proteobacteria were significantly reduced in the EO group. At genus levels, the EO supplementation increased the relative abundance of Intestinimonas (p < 0.05) and Megamonas (p < 0.01). In conclusion, a dietary supplementation of 300 mg/kg EO can improve the production performance of laying hens and the egg quality. It can also regulate the abundance of cecal flora and serum biochemical indicators.