Egg quality parameters of Isa Brown layer chickens fed varying dietary levels of activated charcoal

Assessment of egg quality is very crucial for the egg industry as egg configuration affects consumer preference, grading, and price. This study evaluated the quality of eggs from 120 Isa Brown laying hens reared on deep litter and fed varying dietary levels of activated charcoal (AC). The birds were randomly assigned to four groups of 30 birds per group with three replicates of 10 hens each: G1 (control), G2, G3 and G4 with 0.0 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5kg AC/100kg feed, respectively. The hens were fed 125g/bird/day of basal layer ration and clean drinking water ad libitum. Six (6) freshly laid eggs were randomly selected per group per day at 24, 28 and 32 weeks of age (woa) for the evaluation of external and internal egg quality traits namely: egg weight (EW), egg length (EL), egg diameter (ED), egg volume (EV), shell weight (SW), shell thickness (ST), albumen height (AH), yolk height (YH), albumen weight (AW), yolk weight (YW), and Haugh unit (HU). Data obtained were analyzed using Analysis of variance (ANOVA) in a completely randomized design. Results showed that feeding AC in the diet of laying hens significantly improved YW and HU at week 24; EW, EL, ED, SW, and YH at week 28; and ST at week 32 (p ≤ 0.026). It was concluded that AC could be included at 0.5 - 1.5 kg/100kg of feed without detrimental effect on egg quality of laying hens, and improvement in some external and internal egg quality traits.