Effects of Different Levels of Green Tea Powder on Performance, Antioxidant Activity, Egg Mass, Quality, and Cecal Microflora of Chickens

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of <i>Green Tea Powder</i> on the performance, egg quality, serum immune and antioxidant indices, and cecal microflora of 300-day-old Chishui black-bone chickens during the peak laying period. A total of 360 Chishui black-bone chickens were selected as the experimental animals. They were randomly allocated into four groups: the control group (CON), trial group I (T1), trial group II (T2), and trial group III (T3), each group with six replicates and 15 hens in each replicate. The control group was fed a basal diet, and the experimental groups were fed a basal diet supplemented with 0.8%, 1.6%, and 2.4% <i>Green Tea Powder</i>, respectively. The accommodation period was 14 d, and the experimental period was 60 d. The statistical software SPSS was used to perform a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) on the experimental data, and Duncan's method was used to perform multiple comparisons among groups. The results showed the following: compared with those of the control group, the average daily gain of the laying hens significantly decreased in the 1.6% <i>Green Tea Powder</i> group (<i>p</i> < 0.05); adding <i>Green Tea Powder</i> significantly reduced the content of malondialdehyde in the serum (<i>p</i> < 0.05), and the addition of 0.8% tea leaves significantly increased the immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin A contents (<i>p</i> < 0.05); the egg yolk weight, eggshell thickness, eggshell strength, and yolk color of the laying hens significantly decreased in the 1.6% <i>Green Tea Powder</i> group (<i>p</i> < 0.05), and the addition of <i>Green Tea Powder</i> at the level of 2.4% significantly increased the percentage of umami, essential, and total amino acids (<i>p</i> < 0.05); and the structure of intestinal microorganisms was improved, and the abundance of Bacteroidetes and Bacteroidaceae significantly increased, while the abundance of Firmicutes and Lachnospiraceae significantly decreased (<i>p</i> < 0.05).