Nutritional impact of inclusion of garlic (Allium sativum) and/or onion (Allium cepa L.) powder in laying hens’ diets on their performance, egg quality, and some blood constituents

Abstract Background Many studies mentioned that using medicinal herbs and plants as feed additives to ruminants seems to be a recent trend depending on the availability and their cost but using them with monogastric animals and birds, as pharmaceutical tool, is available. As an example, the importance of garlic or onion in recent years, thanks to a wide range of useful properties, has been increasingly used as an additive in nutrition and protection of farm animals. Their action was manifested in a reduced expanding range of pathogenic microorganisms in the digestive tract, which resulted in the rapid growth of poultry, efficient digestion, and increased immunity and health of poultry. Methods One hundred and eight 30-week-old laying hens were randomly divided into six dietary treatment groups {G1 control, G2 contained 0.5% garlic powder (GP), G3 contained 1% GP, G4 contained 1% onion powder (OP), G5 contained 1% OP + 0.5% GP, and G6 contained 1% OP + 1% GP}. Each group included 18 hens in six replicates (3 birds/each). So, this work carried out to investigate the impact of incorporating garlic powder (GP) and/or onion powder (OP) in laying hens’ diets on their performance, egg quality, and some blood constituents. Results Incorporating GP, OP, and the mixture of them in laying hen diets had no significant effect on the average egg weight and consumption/hen/day throughout the three stages of egg collection, but had a significant improvement in the number of eggs/hen, percentage of egg production, egg mass/hen, and feed conversion. Inclusion of GP, OP, or the mixture of them in laying hen diets had no significant effect on the shape index, Haugh unit, albumin, and shell percentages; also, an insignificant increase for shell thickness was observed, but egg weight increases (P < 0.05). Incorporation of GP, OP, and the mixture of them significantly decreased (P < 0.05) total cholesterol concentration. Also, an inclusion of 0.5% GP, 1% GP, and 1% OP + 1% GP decreased (P < 0.05) high-density lipoprotein. Inclusion of only 1% OP + 1% GP (G6) decreased (P < 0.05) glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase; meanwhile, supplementation of 1% OP, 1% OP + 0.5% GP, or 1% OP + 1% GP increased (P < 0.05) creatinine. Conclusion From the results obtained and under conditions suitable for this study, it can be mentioned that the incorporation of garlic or onion powder or the mixture of them can be safely used with improvement in the general health of hens, egg weight, and feed conversion and decrease in the blood cholesterol

Incorporation field crop residues in rabbit rations

Abstract Background In Egypt, the area of Berseem was decreased and wheat area increased which lead to high price of rabbit rations. Using non-traditional feed led to decrease the cost of feeding. The main objective of this study is to replace 50% of Berseem hay (BH) of rabbit rations by agriculture by-products such as Mung bean husks (MBH), soybean vein hay (SBVH), or peanut vein hay (PVH). Method Twenty-four New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits aged 5–6 weeks (584 ± 25 g) were randomly divided into four equal experimental groups. Feeding trial lasted 70 days. Results Except for organic matter (OM) digestibility, treatments had no effect on all other nutrient digestibilites that includes dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fiber (CF), ether extract (EE), and nitrogen free extract (NFE) and nutritive values {total digestible nutrient (TDN) and digestible crude protein (DCP)}. Instead, 50% of BH by the other alternative source of agriculture by-products had no effect on all carcass parameters measured. However, dressing percentages was improved. Treatments had no effect on albumin, total lipids, triglycerides, total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT), creatinine, and alkaline phosphatase. Conclusion It can be instead 50% of hay used in rabbit rations with alternative sources of roughage, such as Mung bean husks, soybean vein hay, or peanut vein hay, without any adverse effect on their performance, digestion, carcass characteristics, and blood constituents