Egg production in laying hens receiving different forms of red ginseng and fermented red koji blend

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate egg production in 40-week-old Hyline brown laying hens fed different forms of red ginseng marc (RGM) and fermented red koji (FRK) blend for 8 weeks. Two hundred and forty laying hens were distributed into four treatments (control, 1% RGM powder mixed with FRK, pelleted 1% RGM with FRK and coated pellets of 1% RGM with FRK) with six replicates of ten birds each in a completely randomized design. Improvement in egg production was done by measuring hen-day egg production (HDP), egg weight (EW), feed intake (F1), feed conversion ratio (FCR), egg mass (EM) and Haugh unit (HU). There were significant differences (P<0.05) among all treatments for HDP and FCR after 8 weeks, for EW and EM after 6 and 8 weeks and for F1 and HU from 4 weeks onward until 8 weeks of the experimental period. It was concluded that feeding coated pellet diet of 1% RGM with FRK to laying hens of 40 weeks of age improves their egg production (HDP, FCR, EM and HU) at the end of the laying period.