Effects Of Astaxanthin On Production Performance,Egg Quality,Antioxidant And Immune Performance Of Baicheng You Hens

In this study,different levels of astaxanthin were added to the diet to study its effect on Baicheng You hens production performance,egg quality,antioxidant performance and immune performance.In the experiment,480 48-week-old Baicheng You hens were randomly divided into 4 groups,with 0,2,4,6 g/kg astaxanthin added,4 replicates in each group,and 30 chickens in each replicate.The pre-test is 3weeks,and the formal test is 8 weeks.The main findings are as follows:(1)Production performance: The production performance of the three test groups is not significantly different from that of the control group(P>0.05).(2)Egg quality: The yellow color of each test group was significantly higher than that of the control group(P<0.01),and the thickness of the egg shell of the test group III(0.31±0.03mm)was significantly higher than that of the control group(0.29±0.03mm)(P <0.05).There was no significant difference between the test group and the control group in the average egg weight,Harbin unit,protein height,egg yolk percentage,protein percentage and egg shape index(P>0.05).(3)Antioxidant performance: The SOD and GSH-Px activities of the three test groups were significantly higher than those of the control group(P<0.01),and the MDA content of test group I(5.77±0.83)was significantly lower than that of the control group(6.57±0.89))(P<0.05),while the MDA content of test group II and test group III(5.11±0.24,4.96±0.63)were extremely significantly lower than the control group(6.57±0.89)(P<0.01)(4)The levels of Ig A and Ig G in test group I,test group II,and test group III were significantly higher than those in the control group(P<0.05).Among them,test group III had the highest content,test group I,test group II,and test group III.The content of Ig M is not significantly different from the control group(P>0.05),but there is a tendency to increase.(5)The albumin of test group I,test group II,and test group III was significantly higher than that of the control group(P<0.01),and the lysozyme content of test group II and test group III was extremely significantly higher than that of the control group(P < 0.01).),the lysozyme of test group I was significantly higher than that of the control group(P < 0.05),and the albumin of test group III was significantly higher than that of the control group(P<0.05).In summary,astaxanthin has no significant effect on the average daily feed intake,egg production rate,feed-to-egg ratio,average egg weight,Hastelloy unit,and egg shape index of Baicheng oil chicken.However,the addition of astaxanthin to the diet can improve the anti-oxidation and immune ability of Baicheng oil chicken’s egg yellow color,and it shows a linear dose-effect relationship.