Effects of different herbal formulations supplemented in diets on egg production performance and egg quality of commercial laying hens
This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplementing 3% different herbal formulations (HFs) into a basal diet on the reproductive performance of VGA crossbred Egyptian laying hens. A completely randomized design was employed using 480 birds allocated to four treatment groups (120 birds per group, with three replicates). The control group (CON) received the basal diet only, whereas the experimental groups (HF1, HF2, and HF3) were fed the basal diet supplemented with 3% HF1, HF2, and HF3, respectively. All herbal formulations contained 50% dried gac (Momordica cochinchinensis) fruit residue combined with garlic, artichoke, turmeric, and cinnamon powders at different proportions. The results showed that herbal supplementation reduced the age at peak egg production, with the earliest peak observed in the HF2 group (205 days) compared with the control group (209 days; P<0.05). Herbal supplementation also increased the laying rate and egg production, with the HF2 group achieving a laying rate of 89.90% and an egg production of 6.29 eggs/hen/week at 40 weeks of age, both higher than those of the control group. Furthermore, the supplemented groups exhibited lower feed consumption and feed cost per 10 eggs, with the HF2 group showing the greatest economic efficiency. Herbal supplementation also improved egg quality, as evidenced by greater egg weight (56.91 g in the HF2 group), darker yolk color, and significantly higher carotenoid content (P<0.05). These findings demonstrate that supplementation with an optimized herbal formulation, particularly HF2, effectively improves reproductive performance, egg quality, and feed utilization efficiency in VGA crossbred Egyptian laying hens during the 20–40-week laying period, thereby providing a natural, safe, and sustainable nutritional strategy for commercial egg production.
