A PRELIMINARY ASSESSMENT OF THE IMPACT OF HONEY ON THE REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF NAKED NECK HENS

Honey is natural nectar that bees gather from a variety of flowers. Different chemicals found in honey are essential for the growth of tissues and organs in all living things. The goal of the current study was to compare the effects of three different honey concentrations [0 g (control), 5 g (group A), and 10 g (group B)] on the reproductive efficiency and egg quality attributes of naked neck hens over a 35-day period. A total of 90 (72♀:18♂) naked neck hens (75 weeks old) were stratified at random into three experimental groups, each with three replicates of 10 birds (8♀:2♂) each, under a completely randomized design (CRD). The experimental groups—control, A, and B received supplemental treatments of honey in drinking water at concentrations of 0 g/liter, 5 g/liter, and 10 g/liter, respectively. One-way ANOVA with CRD was used to analyze the data. In comparison to the control and group A, group B had significantly increased egg production, egg fertility, and egg hatchability. However, statistical analysis revealed no changes (P>0.05) in the fertile hatch rate between the treatment groups. In the first and second week of the experiment, there were no statistically significant differences between the eggs from different treatments in terms of eggshell weight and eggshell ratio. There were also no significant differences between three treatments in the thickness of the eggshells in the first week of the experiment. Nonetheless, when compared to the control and group A, a positive (P<0.05) effect was seen in the group B's overall means of egg weight, eggshell weight, eggshell ratio, and eggshell thickness in the third week of the experiment. Similar to this, group B had significantly higher mean values for egg length, egg breadth, egg shape index, egg volume, and egg surface area than did group A and the control. In conclusion, honey at a concentration of 10 g/liter (w/v) may prove effective when given orally to elderly laying hens. Preliminarna ocena vpliva medu na reproduktivno zmogljivost kokoši z golim vratom Izvleček: Med je naravni nektar, ki ga čebele nabirajo na različnih cvetovih. Različne kemikalije, ki jih najdemo v njem, so bistvene za rast tkiv in organov vseh živih bitij. Cilj te študije je bil primerjati učinke treh različnih koncentracij medu [0 g (kontrola), 5 g (skupina A) in 10 g (skupina B)] na reproduktivno sposobnost in kakovost jajc pri kokoših z golim vratom v 35-dnevnem obdobju. Skupaj 90 (72 ♀ : 18 ♀) kokoši z golim vratom (starih 75 tednov) je bilo naključno razdeljenih v tri poskusne skupine, vsaka s tremi ponovitvami po 10 kokoši (8 ♀ : 2 ♀) v popolnoma randomiziranem vzorcu (CRD). Poskusne skupine – kontrola, A in B – so dobile med v pitni vodi v koncentracijah 0 g/liter, 5 g/liter in 10 g/liter. Za analizo podatkov je bila uporabljena enosmerna ANOVA s CRD. V primerjavi s kontrolno skupino in skupino A so se pri skupini B znatno povečale proizvodnja jajc, oplojenost in valilnost jajc. Vendar statistična analiza ni pokazala sprememb (P > 0,05) v deležu oplojenih jajc med skupinami. V prvem in drugem tednu poskusa med jajci iz različnih obravnav ni bilo statistično značilnih razlik glede mase jajčne lupine in razmerja jajčnih lupin. Prav tako med tremi obravnavami v prvem tednu poskusa ni bilo statistično značilnih razlik v debelini jajčne lupine. Kljub temu je bil v primerjavi s kontrolo in skupino A v tretjem tednu poskusa opažen pozitiven (P < 0,05) učinek pri skupnih povprečnih vrednostih mase jajc, mase jajčne lupine, razmerja jajčne lupine in debeline jajčne lupine v skupini B. Podobno je imela skupina B bistveno višje povprečne vrednosti dolžine jajc, širine jajc, indeksa oblike jajc, prostornine jajc in površine jajc kot skupina A in kontrolna skupina. Zaključimo lahko, da se med v koncentraciji 10 g/liter (m/v) lahko izkaže za učinkovitega, če se daje peroralno starejšim kokošim nesnicam. Ključne besede: med; goli vrat; kakovost jajc; plodnost; valilnost