Desempeño productivo de gallinas ponedoras suplementadas con aceites esenciales de canela, clavo y orégano

Resumen

Essential oils (EO), phytochemical metabolites derived from plants, have been added to poultry diets to improve health and performance. A combination of EO containing cinnamon, clove, and oregano has been shown to enhance broiler performance in previous studies. However, the effect of the same EO on the productive performance of laying hens remains unclear. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of a product containing EO of cinnamon, clove, and oregano (CCO) on laying performance of layer hens on a commercially relevant scale. A total of 12,288 19-week-old Dekalb White hens were placed in a commercial layer house and randomly assigned to two treatments, with six tiers per treatment. From each tier, 42-44 enriched cages (24 hens per cage) were tested. Cages were equipped with perches, scratch pads, and a segregated nest area. The treatments included a standard corn-soy diet representative of commercial diet used as a Control (CON; 6,120 hens) and a standard diet supplemented with CCO, included at 250 mg/kg (CCO; 6,168 hens) offered from 19-30 and 50-70 weeks of age. From 31-49 weeks of age, all hens received the control diet. Supplementation was not continuous to minimize the costs associated with the addition of CCO. Antibiotics were not used in either treatment in any phase. Egg production, mortality, feed intake, and feed conversions were recorded and calculated based on periods of four consecutive wks (28 days). Egg weights were recorded at 28-day intervals from a pair of cages located on each side of the tiers. Data were analyzed as a completely randomized design with repeated measures using the Glimmix procedure in SAS. Differences were considered significant at P<0.05. The cumulative results indicated that mortality was unaffected by treatment (CON: 0.63 %, CCO: 1.01 %; P=0.1667). Hens fed CCO exhibited improved/lower feed conversion ratio per kg of egg (CON: 2.08, CCO: 1.98; P=<0.0001) and per dozen eggs (CON: 1.48, CCO: 1.41; P=0.0065) compared to the control group, without a difference in egg weight per hen (CON: 51.7 g, CCO: 53.2 g; P=0.1056) or average daily feed intake (CON: 107.7 g/d, CCO: 105.8 g/d; P=0.2612). Although not statistically significant, CCO resulted in higher daily egg production per hen compared to the control group (CON: 0.873, CCO: 0.899; P=0.1350). These findings indicate that CCO can enhance the performance of laying hens, even when the supplementation of these EO is not continuous.