Authors : Y.K. Han, Y.H. Jin, W.I. Lee, K.T. Lee and P.A. Thacke
Abstract: This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding lysolecithin on laying hen performance and to determine its effects on interior and exterior egg quality as well as the fat soluble vitamin and cholesterol content of egg yolks. About 64 Lohmann Brown-Lite laying hens were fed diets based on corn, wheat and soybean meal with lesser quantities of lupin meal, corn gluten meal and corn distiller’s dried grains with solubles providing additional supplementary protein for a 6 week period. The diets contained 0.0, 0.05, 0.10 or 0.15% lysolecithin. There were eight cages per treatment and two hens per cage. There was no difference in the rate of egg production as a result of feeding lysolecithin with all treatments exceeding 97%. Adding lysolecithin to the diet linearly (p<0.01) increased egg weight. The general increase in egg weight was associated with a dramatic increase (p = 0.02) in the number of large (63-72.9 g) size eggs with a concomitant reduction in the number of medium (53-62.9 g) size eggs. Feed intake declined linearly (p<0.01) while there was a linear (p<0.01) improvement in feed efficiency (g feed/g egg) with increasing lysolecithin level. The increase in egg weight appeared to result from an increase in albumen weight (p<0.01). No significant differences were detected in egg shell weight, yolk color or Haugh units. However, the weight of the egg yolk declined linearly (p<0.01) with increasing level of lysolecithin supplementation. Treatment with lysolecithin appeared to increase the vitamin A (p = 0.05) and vitamin E (p = 0.06) content of egg yolks. In addition, there was a linear (p<0.01) increase in the cholesterol content of egg yolks with increasing level of lysolecithin supplementation. In summary, supplementation of lysolecithin in the diet of laying hens significantly increased egg weight and feed efficiency. In addition, treatment with lysolecithin resulted in linear increases in the vitamin A and E content of egg yolk. However, these advantages may be more than offset by a significant increase in the cholesterol content of the egg yolk.
Y.K. Han, Y.H. Jin, W.I. Lee, K.T. Lee and P.A. Thacke, 2010. Influence of Lysolecithin on the Performance of Laying Hens, Interior and Exterior Egg Quality as well as Fat Soluble Vitamin and Cholesterol Content in the Yolk. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 9: 2583-2588.