Effects of rare earth as feed additive on production performance, egg quality, serum biochemical parameters, antioxidant capacity, intestinal morphology, and gut microbiota in late-phase laying hens

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

Sustainable Food Systems

Jun Chen¹  Xintong Peng¹  Tiande Zou¹  Jinming You¹  Jiaming Li¹  Yueming Luo¹  Zirui Wang¹  Liwen Yan¹  Xuehai Cao¹ 

[1] Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Animal Nutrition, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China;Jiangxi Province Key Innovation Center of Integration in Production and Education for High-quality and Safe Livestock and Poultry, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang, China;

关键词: egg quality;    gut microbiota;    late-phase laying hens;    production performance;    rare earth;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fsufs.2023.1155543

 received in 2023-01-31, accepted in 2023-04-10,  发布年份 2023

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

This study aimed to investigate the effects of dietary rare earth (RE) supplementation on production performance, egg quality, serum biochemical parameters, antioxidant capacity, intestinal morphology, and gut microbiota in late-phase laying hens. A total of 960 Lohmann Pink laying hens (380 d old) were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 dietary treatments in a 21-day feeding trial. There were 6 replicates in each treatment, with 32 hens per replicate. The five experimental diets were supplemented with 0, 150, 300, 450, and 600 g/t RE in the basal diet. Compared with the control group, hens fed the 150 g/t RE diet had a greater average egg weight during the third week of the experimental period (p < 0.05). However, dietary 150, 300, or 600 g/t RE supplementation decreased the eggshell thickness of laying hens compared to that of the control group (p < 0.05). No differences were observed in the serum biochemical parameters of laying hens among treatments except for the HDL-C concentration, which was higher in the 300 or 450 g/t RE-supplemented group than in the control group (p < 0.05). However, GSH-Px activity increased when hens were fed the 600 vs. 0 g/t RE diet (p < 0.05). But dietary supplementation with 600 g/t RE increased the ileum’s crypt depth in laying hens compared to the control group (p < 0.05). There were significant differences in beta diversity of cecum microbiota in laying hens fed a 600 g/t RE diet in place of the other 4 experimental diets (p < 0.05). Compared with the control diet, dietary 600 g/t RE supplementation significantly decreased the relative abundance of Fusobacteriota (phylum) and Fusobacterium (genus) while markedly increasing the relative abundance of Ruminococcus (genus) and Subdoligranulum (genus) (p < 0.05). A high RE dosage negatively affects egg quality and intestinal morphology and alters gut microbiota diversity and composition. In contrast, a moderate RE dosage has beneficial effects on production performance in late-phase laying hens. Further research is warranted regarding eggshell thickness to investigate whether dietary calcium levels must be adjusted when 150 g/t RE is supplemented for late-phase laying hens.

【 授权许可】

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