Tarragon (Artemisia Dracunculus L. ) Could Alleviate Negative Effects of Stocking Density in Laying Hens
Kaya, HKaraalp, MKaynar, ÕTekçe, EAksakal, ABayram, B
The study was conducted to determine the effects of stocking density (SD, 5 or 7 layers/cage) and tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.) diet supplementation at four levels (0, 1.2, 6 and 12 g/kg feed) on performance, certain egg characteristics, serum, liver, egg yolk and small intestine bacteria parameters in laying hens. The experiment was carried out over a period of 8 weeks, with 192 Lohman Brown commercial hybrids at 50-w-age. The results showed that an increased SD reduced feed intake (FI; p 0.01) and egg production (p 0.05), but had no effect on the weight gain, feed conversion ratio, damaged egg ratio, egg weight and egg quality (p>0.05) parameters. The supplementation of tarragon to the diet reduced the FI and damaged egg ratio (p 0.01), and improved egg production and FCR (p 0.01). While an increased SD reduced serum total antioxidants (p 0.05), it elevated corticosterone (CORT) and total oxidant serum (TOS) (p 0.05). Tarragon was found to enhance total immunoglobulin (p 0.05), but to decreased the CORT and TOS of the serum (p 0.05). An increased SD raised the malondialdehyde (MDA) in the serum (p 0.001), liver (p 0.05) and yolk (p 0.001). Tarragon supplementation reduced MDA of the serum (p 0.05), liver (p 0.001) and yolk (p 0.001). E. coli and total Mesophilic Aerobic Bacteria counts in the small intestine were raised (p 0.001) with increased SD. Tarragon decreased (p 0.05) mesophilic aerobic bacteria. It was thus found that, tarragon supplementation can be considered generally effective in improving performance parameters, alleviating stress-induced negativities, reducing lipid peroxidation, regulating the immune system and controlling some intestinal microorganisms.(AU)
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