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This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of dietary licorice supplementation on productive and reproductive performance with physiological response of Inshas local chicken strain in summer months. A total of one hundred and ninety two laying hens of Inshas local strain at 36 weeks of age were housed in floor pens and randomly distributed into four treatment groups. Each treatment consisted of 48 females in three replicates, with 16 hens per replicate. Birds in control group were fed on a basal diet without any additives, while, other treatments were fed basal diet supplemented with 0.5%, 1.0 % and 1.5 % licorice powder, respectively. The experiment was conducted under summer condition in Egypt and commenced eight weeks through July and August months. According to the results, supplementation the diets of laying hens with licorice powder significantly increased productive performance (egg production, egg weight and egg mass). Also, feed conversion ratio was improved for all treatments compared to control group, while there were no significant differences with regard to feed consumption. In addition, all studied concentrations of licorice powder significantly improved percentages of fertility and hatchability of fertile eggs compared to control. Besides, concentration of 1 and 1.5% licorice powder significantly enhanced hatched chick weight compared to those for control group. Moreover, some egg quality traits such as yolk index, shell thickness and Haugh unit had been significantly improved with all concentrations of licorice powder supplementation, while yolk colour had been improved with 1.0 % and 1.5 % licorice powder only. Values of RBC's, WBC's, Hb, globulin, total antioxidant capacity and HDL were significantly increased by supplementing the diet with all experimental concentrations of licorice powder compared with those for control. Moreover, values of packed cell volume and plasma calcium represented the same significant increase response of licorice except that with 0.5%, while, H/L ratio, total lipids, cholesterol and LDL were significantly decreased due to all studied licorice concentrations compared to control. In conclusion, supplementing the diet of laying hens in summer season with concentrations of 1.0 or 1.5 % licorice powder could be a good tool for maximizing productivity and reproductivity coincided with improving blood parameters and lipid profile. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The objective of the present experiment was to examine the effect of lighting regimens, iodine sources and levels and their interactions on productive performance, hatching traits, some biochemical blood parameters and thyroid hormones of Mandarah chickens. A total of 400 Mandarah chicks at 8 weeks of age were housed in closed system house and divided randomly into two equal groups (200 chicks / group). Chicks of the first group were exposed to Step-Up Photoperiod (SUP): The photoperiod was increased gradually from 10 h/d at 8 wks of age by half an hour each wk to reach 16 h/d at 20 wk of age (Lr1), Chicks of the second group were exposed to Constant–Step Up Photoperiod (C- SUP): The photoperiod was kept constant at 12 h/d at 8 weeks of age until 16 wk of age and increased gradually by an hour each wk to reach 16 h/d at 20 wk of age (Lr2). The chicks within each lighting regimen were divided equally into four dietary supplementations groups (5 replicates of 10 birds each) as follows: basal diet supplemented with 0 .5 mg Potassium iodide (control, T1), 2 mg Potassium iodide (T2), 0 .5 mg Iodide-enriched yeast (T3) and 2 mg Iodide-enriched yeast (T4) / Kg diet. The results during the laying period up to 36 wk have shown that exposing Mandarah chickens to Lr1 regimen significantly improved egg weight, egg production (%) , egg mass , feed conversion ratio, fertility (%), hatchability (%),body weight at hatch, yolk sac and fabricious gland (%) compared to Lr2 regimen. Moreover, plasma IgM, IgG, TAC, HDL, HDL/LDL ratio and T4 significantly increased for Lr1 compared with Lr2. Feeding Mandarah chickens on 2mg organic iodine/kg diet significantly improved the laying performance , feed conversion ratio, plasma IgM, HDL, HDL/LDL, T3/T4, L%, H%, H/L ratio compared with inorganic iodine either o.5 or 2 mg /kg diet. Also, the interaction of Lr1- organic iodine-2 represented highest (p<0.05) values of egg production%,egg mass,plasma IgM, HDL,HDL/LDL,T3/T4 ratio and L (%), Besides improvement of feed conversion compared with other interactions. In conclusion, it is possible to use the SUP regimen combined with feeding on 2 mg organic iodine /kg diet in laying management from 8-36 weeks of age to improve productive and reproductive performance, hatching traits, hatched chicks body weight and immunity system of Mandarah chickens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]