Effects of bacterial-enzyme complex on production performance, egg quality, egg composition, and nutrient apparent metabolic rate in laying hens fed with wheat diet.

The experiment was to investigate the effects of bacterial-enzyme complex on the production performance, egg quality, egg composition, and nutrient apparent metabolic rate in wheat-based laying hens. A total of 360 Jinghong laying hens were randomly divided into three groups with 10 replicates in each group and 12 laying hens in each replicate. The control group was fed with corn-soybean meal diet. The wheat group used 10% wheat to replace the same proportion of corn in the control group diet. The bacterial-enzyme complex group was supplemented with 0.02% bacterial-enzyme complex on the basis of wheat group diet. The pre-test period was three days, and the formal test period was 28 days. The results showed that there was no significant difference in production performance, egg quality, and egg composition among the control group, wheat group, and bacterial-enzyme complex group (P>0.05). The lutein content of egg yolk in wheat group decreased gradually with the increase of experiment time. On the 22nd, 25th, and 28th day, the lutein content of egg yolk in wheat group was significantly lower than that in control group (P<0.05), and the lutein content of egg yolk in bacterial-enzyme complex group was significantly higher than that in wheat group (P<0.05). The apparent metabolic rates of dry matter, crude protein, calcium, and phosphorus in wheat group were lower than those in control group (P>0.05), while the apparent metabolic rates of crude protein and phosphorus in bacterial-enzyme complex group laying hens were significantly higher than those in the control group and wheat group (P<0.05). The study indicates that using 10% wheat instead of corn can not affect egg quality and egg composition, but can reduce yolk color and lutein content. Bacterial-enzyme complex can increase yolk lutein content of wheat group, improve yolk color and improve nutrient apparent metabolic rate of laying hens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]