| Abstrakt: |
The experiment aimed to explore the effects of honeysuckle, skullcap and mulberry leaves crude extract on the production performance, egg quality, slaughter performance, and meat quality of laying hens in the late laying period. A total of 4 320 six hundred and seventy-day-old Dawu Golden Phoenix laying hens with similar production performance and good health were selected and randomly divided into two groups, with six replicates in each group and 360 hens in each replicate. The control group was fed basic diet and normal drinking water. The experimental group added 0.3% honeysuckle, skullcap and mulberry leaves crude extract to drinking water. The test period was 30 days. The results showed that compared to the control group, the experimental group had a significant increase in the number of normal eggs, total egg production, total weight of normal eggs, average weight of normal eggs, egg production rate, and the number of small yellow follicles (P<0.05), the proportion of abnormal eggs, average number of spotted eggs, average number of eggs with calcium salt deposits, average number of wrinkled eggs, the ratio of spotted eggs, and the ratio of eggs with calcium salt deposits were significantly reduced (P<0.05). Compared to the control group, the pH value of the pectoral muscle, the pH value of the leg muscle, the water-holding capacity of the leg muscle, and the a* and b* values of the leg muscle in the experimental group were all significantly increased (P<0.05), the L* values of both the pectoral and leg muscles in the experimental group were significantly decreased (P<0.05). The study indicates that adding honeysuckle, skullcap and mulberry crude extract to the drinking water of laying hens in the late laying period can effectively increase the egg production performance, improve meat quality and serum biochemical indices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
