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The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of commercial laying hens fed with different levels of Moringa oleifera leaf meal in their diet. For this purpose, 150 laying hens of the Dekalb White lineage, at 62 weeks of age, and with an initial average weight of 1.458 kg ± 8.70g, were used. They were housed in cages measuring 1.00 X 0.40 X 0.45m, equipped with chute-type feeders, automatic cup-type drinkers and chute for collecting eggs. They were distributed in a completely randomized design, consisting of five treatments with five replications of six birds. The treatments consisted of a reference diet, without moringa inclusion, and four test diets with levels of 1.5%, 3.0%, 4.5% and 6% inclusion of moringa leaf meal. Water was provided ad libitum, and 120 g of feed per bird per day. The total experimental period lasted 122 days. The data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance and Dunnett's test at 5% significance and, when significant, subjected to regression analysis. Analysis of the leaf flour revealed the presence of antinutritional factors in small concentrations. It was observed that the addition of moringa to the birds' diet did not influence performance parameters and provided significant increases in the average egg weight according to moringa inclusion levels of 1.5%, 4.5% and 6% when compared to the control diet, as well as a significant increase in the color of the egg yolks for all levels tested (1.5 to 6%). A reduction in Haugh unit values was observed when inclusion levels of moringa were 4.5% and 6%. Despite a reduction in Haugh unit values, they are still within the classification standards. Analysis of the biochemical parameters of the birds' blood serum did not show significant influences according to the levels of moringa inclusion in the diet, although a numerical reduction was observed in the cholesterol levels of birds fed with an inclusion of 6% of leaf flour in the diet, which could possibly be related to the presence of phytochemical compounds, more precisely β-sitosterol. Moringa oleifera leaf meal can be used to feed laying birds without causing harm to the birds' performance, in addition to intensifying the color of the yolks., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 da Silva Junior et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of different sources and levels of supplemental amino acid-complexed minerals (AACM), with and without enzyme phytase (EZ). A total of 512 Dekalb White laying hens at 67 weeks of age were used in a 2 × 3 + 2 factorial arrangement of 8 treatments and 8 replications each. The main effects included EZ supplementation (600 FTU kg -1 ) and AACM inclusion level (100%, 70%, and 40% of inorganic mineral recommendations), plus two control treatments. The group of hens fed AACM-100 showed lower feed intake than the inorganic mineral (IM) group. The diet containing AACM-EZ-70 provided a higher ( p < 0.05) laying percentage and a lower ( p < 0.05) feed conversion ratio than both the IM and IM-EZ diets. The groups fed AACM-EZ-40, AACM-EZ-100, and AACM-70 produced heavier yolks ( p < 0.05). Hens fed IM laid eggs with the lowest yolk and albumen weights ( p < 0.05). Layers fed with AACM-100 and AACM-70 produced the most resistant eggshells to breakage ( p < 0.05). In diets containing phytase, the optimal AACM recommendations for better performance and egg quality in older laying hens are: 42, 49, 5.6, 28, 0.175, and 0.70 mg kg -1 for Zn, Mn, Cu, Fe, Se, and I, respectively.

Two experiments were designed to evaluate the effect of mineral-amino acid complexes (AACM) as a partial replacement of inorganic mineral (IM) in layer-type chicks' diets. Both studies had the same dietary treatments, where in experiment 1 (Exp. 1) was conducted under thermoneutral conditions from 0 to 35 D and chicks in experiment 2 (Exp. 2) were exposed to cold stress conditions at nighttime during the first 15 D and to thermoneutral condition from 16 to 35 D. For each trial, 1,200 one-day-old Lohmann Brown chicks were used, with 20 cage replicates with 30 chicks per cage. Treatments consisted of the control diet (IM; with 70, 70, and 8 mg/kg of zinc [Zn], manganese [Mn], and copper [Cu], respectively) and the treatment diet (AACM, with 40, 40, and 2.75 mg/kg of Zn, Mn, and Cu, respectively, from IM sources, along with 30, 30, and 5.25 mg/kg of Zn, Mn, and Cu, respectively). Data were submitted to analysis of variance, and means were compared using the t-test (P < 0.05). In Exp. 1, there were no significant differences between treatments on chick performance. However, AACM-fed chicks had higher thymus (P = 0.03) and cecum weight (P < 0.01), superior micromineral deposition in the tibias (P < 0.01), and reduced phosphorus excretion (P = 0.03). In Exp. 2, chicks fed with AACM had higher body weight gain (P = 0.04), better average daily feed intake (P = 0.03), lower phosphorus excretion (P = 0.02), and higher liver and pancreas weight (P < 0.01) in the last week of the study. In conclusion, chicks fed with AACM under thermoneutral conditions had higher bone mineralization and reduced excretion of phosphorus, and in adverse conditions, AACM improves performance and liver and pancreas weight, also reducing phosphorus excretion., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.)