Egg production of laying hens with the use of phytobiotics

The aim of the work was to study the effectiveness of the effect of a phytobiotic feed additive on egg production and egg quality in laying hens. Phytobiotics (biologically active compounds extracted from plants) are one of the alternatives due to their antimicrobial activity and its modulation of the intestinal microbiota and improvement of productive properties. The experiment lasted 180 days. 4 groups of laying hens of the “Dominant” breed, 150 heads each, were selected for the experiment. It was found that the use of a phytobiotic feed additive in the feeding of laying hens increased the gross egg collection in the 2nd group by 1.3%, the 3rd by 3.8 % and the 4th by 6.0 % (P ≤ 0.001), relative to control peers. When using phytobiotics in poultry feeding, egg production and egg production intensity in the 4th group of laying hens increased by 6.0 % (P ≤ 0.05) and 4.1% (P ≤ 0.05) respectively compared to control analogues. Feeding laying hens with a plant supplement increased egg mass in the 4th group by 4.4 % and yolk mass in the 3rd group by 7.7 % (P ≤ 0.05) and in the 4th by 8.9 % (P ≤ 0.01) compared to control indicators. When using a phytobiotic feed supplement, the egg shape index in laying hens of the 2nd group increases by 0.9 % (P ≤ 0.05), in the 3rd by 1.7 % (P ≤ 0.01) and in the 4th by 2.1 % (P ≤ 0.001), and the shell thickness in the 3rd group increases by 7.1 % (P ≤ 0.05) and in the 4th by 10.7 % (P ≤ 0.01) relative to the control group. Additional feeding of the studied plant supplement increases the height of the dense layer of egg white in the 2nd group by 4.1 % (P ≤ 0.01), the 3rd by 5.4 % and the 4th by 8.2 % (P ≤ 0.001) and increases the small diameter of the dense layer of egg white in the 3rd and 4th groups of laying hens by 2.6 % (P ≤ 0.05) compared to the control sample. It should be noted that the use of the phytobiotic supplement increases the height of the yolk in the 3rd group of laying hens by 15.3 % (P ≤ 0.01) and in the 4th by 23.0 % (P ≤ 0.001) compared to the control. Under the influence of the studied feed additive, the large and small diameter of the egg yolk in the 3rd group of laying hens was 9.7 % (P ≤ 0.01) and 7.5 % (P ≤ 0.05), respectively, and in the 4th group by 12.2 % and 10.0 % (P ≤ 0.05) larger than in the control group.