Effect of Vitamin Supplementation on Egg Production, Egg Quality, and Mortality of Sasso Chickens

Introduction

Ethiopia has a massive poultry population, which is distributed:¹ It constitutes 60% of the total chicken population of East Africa and is estimated to be 60.4 million. With regard to breed, 94.3%, 3.21% and 2.49% of the population represent indigenous, hybrid, and exotic chickens, respectively.^2,3 Despite the large scale of poultry production in the country, as well as regions, their contributions to economies are disproportional. This is mainly due to poor management and disease constraints. The high incidence of disease driving high morbidity and mortality is the principal constraint that hinders chicken productivity in Ethiopia. Although it is understood that diseases cause great losses, few have been studied in the Amhara region.^1,4

Poultry are domestic birds that are a primary supplier of meat and eggs, as well as raw materials for industries (feathers, waste products), and are a source of income and employment.⁵ Poultry production systems come in three major categories: backyard, semi-intensive, and intensive (in-cage) rearing.⁶ The major costs incurred in intensive rearing are feed and feed-related, which account for 60%–70% of total expenses.⁴ Therefore, proper utilization of feed is highly recommended, since it determines the profitability and sustainability of a farm. Moreover, the type and amount of rations given should be safe for production and growth.⁷

Chickens should have sufficient vitamin accessibility. Chicks should be fed starter rations from 0 to 8 weeks of age, pullets grower rations from 8 to 18 weeks, and layer hens vitamin-supplemented layer rations from 18 weeks onward.⁴ Provision of balanced rations plays a great role in the profitability of the poultry industry. Major indices for measuring the profitability of layer hens in a poultry enterprise are total number of eggs of good quality and low mortality.⁵

For the egg industry worldwide, the production of good-quality eggs is critical to the economic viability of the industry. Problems with egg quality currently cost the industry many of millions of dollars per year. Therefore, it is of great importance to understand the factors that affect egg quality.^4,8 Currently in Burji district, there are >380,000 chickens, 35% in urban areas and 65% in rural areas. The commonest poultry reared are Sasso Ruby T44, ducks, Bovans Brown, and white leghorn. Of these breeds, Ruby T44s are one of the fastest-growing populations.^6,9

However, there has been no well-documented research on the use of vitamin-supplemented feed for chickens in the study area. Therefore, the objective of this study was to identify the effect of vitamins on layers’ health status, production capability, and egg quality (EW, ESG, and EST) in Ruby T44 layers, as well as whether vitamin powder in drinking water in addition to standard vitamin premix in ration is beneficial or a waste of money.

Methods

Study Area

This study was conducted in Soyama, Burji, southern Ethiopia. Ecologically, the area lies in moderate wetland ecosystem and has bimodal rainfall. There are two rainy season: heavy rain from April to June and light rain from September to November, with a mean annual rainfall of about 800–1,194 mm.

Study Population

This study was conducted on 120 Sasso layer chickens 22 weeks old that were randomly selected from the study farm. The chickens were divided randomly into an experimental group (n=60) and control group (n=60). Both groups had similar body weight and body condition. Simple random sampling was used to select the hens.

Procedure

The control group had access to clean tap water and commercial layer rations. The experimental group were provided with clean drinking water diluted with vitamin powder (100 g contained vitamin A 6,000,000 IU, vitamin D 1,000,000 IU, vitamin E 2,000 IU, vitamin K 1,000 mg, vitamin B 2,000 mg, and vitamin C 20,000 mg) at 3 g per 5 L and commercial layer rations. Both groups were kept in different rooms of equal size (4×4 m) with identical design, ventilation systems (closed to the west and east, open to north and south). On the chicken house floor, there was a box layer which used to keep the chicken away from the ground. The deep letter was put on the box layer.

Both groups were fed equal layer rations formulated, with 125 g per day for each chicken. In the control group, each drank 230–250 mL clean tap water and in the experimental group each drank 230–250 mL diluted with with vitamin powder at a ratio of 0.25 g per 250 mL water. Twelve observations were made throughout the study period, with one observation per week. As indicated in Table 1 each observations mortality Mortality, egg production, and egg quality were recorded carefully.

Table 1 Commercial ration formulations for starters, growers, and layers

Data Analysis

Data were put into a Microsoft Excel worksheet and analyzed using SPSS 20. Differences between the groups were determined using t-tests, and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

Mortality

Throughout the study period, average mortality was recorded once per week. As shown in Table 2, the decrease in mortality in the study group compared to the control group was significant (P<0.05): 5% (three of 60) in the study group and 13% (eight of 60) in the control group.

Table 2 Effect of supplementary vitamin powder in drinking water on layer mortality

Egg Production

Egg production is indicated in Table 3. At the end of each week, the number of eggs laid was counted. There was a significant increase in eggs laids in the study group compared to the control group (P<0.05), with average egg production per week in the control group of 279.5±3.80 and in the experimental group 256±4.81.

Table 3 Effect of supplementary vitamin powder in drinking water on egg production

Egg Weight

At the end of every week, 20 eggs were taken randomly and each weighed by a digital electronic balance. As shown in Table 4, there was no significant difference in mean egg weight between the study group (59.99±0.92 g) and control group (59.34±0.95 g). This meant that the extra vitamin powder in the drinking water did not bring about a change in egg weight.

Table 4 Effect of supplementary vitamin powder in drinking water on egg weight

Egg-Specific Gravity (ESG)

At the end of every week, the ESG of each of the 20 eggs taken randomly was measured by flotation in saline water Table 5. The dependent variable was ESG and the independent variable vitamin powder. The difference between the groups was not significant: 1.068±5.33×10⁻³ in the study group and 1.061±5.33×10⁻³ in the control group, showing that extra vitamin powder in the drinking water did not bring about a change in ESG.

Table 5 Effect of supplementary vitaminpowder in drinking water on egg-specific gravity

Eggshell Thickness (EST)

At the end of every week, the EST of each of the 20 eggs taken randomly was measured by flotation in saline water (Table 6). The dependent variable was EST and the independent variable vitamin powder. There was a significant increase in EST (P<0.05), with average EST in the study group 0.36±0.048 mm and the control group 0.32±0.040 mm. This meant that extra vitamin powder in the drinking water enhanced EST.

Table 6 Effect of supplementary vitamin powder in drinking water on EST

Discussion

This study revealed that extra vitamin powder of 0.25 g per 250 mL water result in a significant decrease in Sasso layer mortality compared to those getting vitamin premix in feed rations only. A similar study showed that the effect of feeding different vitamin mixtures in addition to standard vitamins on chick mortality and acute death syndrome¹⁰ decreased mortality rates. Egg quality is influenced by diet variation and storage duration, hence the need to further explore the role of additives in enhancing egg quality.⁴ In this study, extra vitamin powder in drinking water enhanced egg production significantly compared to vitamin premix in feed rations only. This result agreed with a study on the influence of high dietary vitamin E and vitamin C supplementation on egg production and plasma characteristics in hens.^10,11

Extra vitamin powder in drinking water enhanced EST, similar to previous research⁴ on the effect of adding vitamins and minerals in powder form on egg production and egg quality and on the effects of two supplemental vitamin premixes on egg quality of Isa Brown layer chickens.¹² Vitamin supplementation is fundamental to improving the health of layers. During high egg production, chickens are exposed to stress, so extra vitamins are helpful in controlling disease via increased immunostatus.^4,12 There were no statistically significant differences in egg weight or ESG between the groups. This finding is in agreement with past research¹³ on the effect of adding vitamins and minerals in powder form on egg production and egg quality.

Conclusion

This study identified that vitamin supplementation is very important, as it increases the health status and profitability of poultry by decreasing layer mortality and increasing egg production. Egg weight showed a significant change; however, ESG and EST showed no variation. EST is directly related to breakage resistance, meaning that the extra vitamin powder also enhanced eggshell strength.

• For poultry production, vitamin supplements are very important to enhance egg-laying performance and quality.
• Feeding poultry rations with vitamin premix and drinking water with vitamin powder will decrease mortality. Therefore, it is advisable that vitamin-rich rations and vitamins diluted in water be used in order to make poultry healthier.
• In general, vitamin supplementation in drinking water in addition to feed rations is very important to increase the productivity and profitability of poultry farms.