1- Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Bu-Ali Sina University, Hamadan, Iran
Abstract: (23 Views)
Introduction and Objective: Corn and soybean meal represent two of the most critical nutritional sources in the poultry industry, playing a vital role in sustaining human nutritional demands. Due to the fact that a significant proportion of consumed corn is imported, dependence on foreign markets and resultant currency fluctuations have substantially increased production costs. Furthermore, escalating demand across various industrial sectors and direct human consumption has led to supply constraints and subsequent price inflation for these essential feed inputs. Under these circumstances, identifying alternative feed sources possessing suitable nutritional value and high regional accessibility is imperative. The oak fruit (acorn) is a potential candidate, having a long history of use in livestock and poultry nutrition due to the structural similarity of its components to conventional cereals. However, the presence of intrinsic anti-nutritional factors, such as tannins and phenolic compounds in acorns, can negatively impact feed intake, nutrient digestibility, and gastrointestinal function; consequently, its utilization mandates effective processing to eliminate these detrimental phenolic compounds. Previous research has indicated that treatment with sodium hydroxide can mitigate tannin levels, and thoat supplementing acorn-based diets with exogenous enzymes can enhance performance and digestibility metrics. Given the limited literature focusing on acorn utilization specifically in laying hens and the synergistic use of enzymes within these diets, this experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of varying inclusion levels of processed oak fruit both with and without multienzyme supplementation, on the performance, nutrient digestibility, and blood biochemical parameters of Hyline W80 laying hens from 33 to 40 weeks of age.
Material and Methods: In this study, 150 Hy‑Line W‑80 laying hens were randomly assigned to six treatments in a completely randomized 3 × 2 factorial design. Each treatment had five replicates with five hens per replicate. The experimental treatments included: 1-Control (corn–soybean meal) diet without multi-enzyme, 2- Control + multi-enzyme, 3- 10% processed oak acorn without multi-enzyme, 4- 10% processed oak acorn + multi-enzyme, 5- 20% processed oak acorn without multi-enzyme, 6- 20% processed oak acorn + multi-enzyme. After collection, the acorns were peeled, dried, and ground, then processed with 4% sodium hydroxide. The chemical composition of raw and processed acorns was analyzed, and their fatty acid profiles were determined using gas chromatography. During the experiment, performance parameters including feed intake, egg weight, egg production, egg mass, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded weekly. Egg quality traits (yolk index, albumen index, yolk and albumen percentage, shape index and shell ratio) were evaluated in two periods. At the end of the experiment, nutrient digestibility (dry matter, crude protein, calcium, phosphorus, and energy) was measured. Blood parameters including cholesterol, triglycerides, high‑density lipoprotein (HDL), low‑density lipoprotein (LDL), and very‑low‑density lipoprotein (VLDL) were analyzed using an autoanalyzer. Data were analyzed using SAS statistical software (version 9.4), and differences among treatment means were assessed using Duncan’s Multiple Range Tes
Results: The results of this study showed that processing oak acorn with sodium hydroxide significantly reduced tannin content. In the raw oak acorn sample, oleic (64.15%), palmitic (14.59%), and linoleic (15.42%) acids had the highest concentrations, respectively. In contrast, processed oak acorn had a lower oleic acid content (15.63%), followed by palmitic acid (12.15%). The inclusion of 10% and 20% processed oak acorn, either alone or in combination with a multi-enzyme supplement, had significant negative effects on all performance parameters of laying hens (P < 0.05). Dietary inclusion of oak acorn significantly increased the albumen index and eggshell thickness (P < 0.05). Conversely, adding multi-enzyme to the diet increased shell thickness but decreased the Haugh unit (P < 0.05), indicating differential multi-enzyme effects on internal egg quality. Supplementation of multi-enzyme in the diet significantly reduced calcium digestibility (P < 0.05), while no significant effects were observed on crude protein, phosphorus, or energy digestibility (P > 0.05). Similarly, inclusion of 10% and 20% oak acorn alone significantly decreased calcium and phosphorus digestibility (P < 0.05), and at the 20% level, a significant reduction in protein digestibility was also observed (P < 0.05). In contrast, dry matter and energy digestibility were not affected by different levels of oak acorn inclusion (P > 0.05). In the combined treatments containing both acorns and multi-enzyme, calcium and phosphorus digestibility were significantly lower compared with the control and control + multi-enzyme groups (P < 0.05), whereas dry matter, energy, and protein digestibility remained unaffected (P > 0.05). Furthermore, the evaluation of blood parameters indicated that none of the treatments containing acorns, multi-enzyme, or their combination had a significant effect on blood biochemical indices (P > 0.05). Only yolk cholesterol content was significantly increased by the inclusion of 20% acorns in the diet (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that despite the adverse effects on production performance, the overall physiological status of the birds, as assessed by blood indices, remained within normal ranges.
Conclusion: Overall, it can be concluded that the inclusion of 10% and 20% acorns in the laying hen diet significantly impaired production performance and nutrient digestibility, and the use of multi-enzyme supplementation failed to effectively mitigate these negative effects.
Material and Methods: In this study, 150 Hy‑Line W‑80 laying hens were randomly assigned to six treatments in a completely randomized 3 × 2 factorial design. Each treatment had five replicates with five hens per replicate. The experimental treatments included: 1-Control (corn–soybean meal) diet without multi-enzyme, 2- Control + multi-enzyme, 3- 10% processed oak acorn without multi-enzyme, 4- 10% processed oak acorn + multi-enzyme, 5- 20% processed oak acorn without multi-enzyme, 6- 20% processed oak acorn + multi-enzyme. After collection, the acorns were peeled, dried, and ground, then processed with 4% sodium hydroxide. The chemical composition of raw and processed acorns was analyzed, and their fatty acid profiles were determined using gas chromatography. During the experiment, performance parameters including feed intake, egg weight, egg production, egg mass, and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were recorded weekly. Egg quality traits (yolk index, albumen index, yolk and albumen percentage, shape index and shell ratio) were evaluated in two periods. At the end of the experiment, nutrient digestibility (dry matter, crude protein, calcium, phosphorus, and energy) was measured. Blood parameters including cholesterol, triglycerides, high‑density lipoprotein (HDL), low‑density lipoprotein (LDL), and very‑low‑density lipoprotein (VLDL) were analyzed using an autoanalyzer. Data were analyzed using SAS statistical software (version 9.4), and differences among treatment means were assessed using Duncan’s Multiple Range Tes
Results: The results of this study showed that processing oak acorn with sodium hydroxide significantly reduced tannin content. In the raw oak acorn sample, oleic (64.15%), palmitic (14.59%), and linoleic (15.42%) acids had the highest concentrations, respectively. In contrast, processed oak acorn had a lower oleic acid content (15.63%), followed by palmitic acid (12.15%). The inclusion of 10% and 20% processed oak acorn, either alone or in combination with a multi-enzyme supplement, had significant negative effects on all performance parameters of laying hens (P < 0.05). Dietary inclusion of oak acorn significantly increased the albumen index and eggshell thickness (P < 0.05). Conversely, adding multi-enzyme to the diet increased shell thickness but decreased the Haugh unit (P < 0.05), indicating differential multi-enzyme effects on internal egg quality. Supplementation of multi-enzyme in the diet significantly reduced calcium digestibility (P < 0.05), while no significant effects were observed on crude protein, phosphorus, or energy digestibility (P > 0.05). Similarly, inclusion of 10% and 20% oak acorn alone significantly decreased calcium and phosphorus digestibility (P < 0.05), and at the 20% level, a significant reduction in protein digestibility was also observed (P < 0.05). In contrast, dry matter and energy digestibility were not affected by different levels of oak acorn inclusion (P > 0.05). In the combined treatments containing both acorns and multi-enzyme, calcium and phosphorus digestibility were significantly lower compared with the control and control + multi-enzyme groups (P < 0.05), whereas dry matter, energy, and protein digestibility remained unaffected (P > 0.05). Furthermore, the evaluation of blood parameters indicated that none of the treatments containing acorns, multi-enzyme, or their combination had a significant effect on blood biochemical indices (P > 0.05). Only yolk cholesterol content was significantly increased by the inclusion of 20% acorns in the diet (P < 0.05). These findings suggest that despite the adverse effects on production performance, the overall physiological status of the birds, as assessed by blood indices, remained within normal ranges.
Conclusion: Overall, it can be concluded that the inclusion of 10% and 20% acorns in the laying hen diet significantly impaired production performance and nutrient digestibility, and the use of multi-enzyme supplementation failed to effectively mitigate these negative effects.
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