Use of garlic as a hypocholesterolemic dietary additive in laying hens

摘要

An experiment was carried out with laying hens to investigate the effects of feeding garlic at low dietary concn. on cholesterol contents of yolk and serum and productivity of laying hens. 60 laying hens (57 wk old) belonging to the Shaver 579 strain were fed garlic at different dietary levels for 10 wks. 5 dietary treatments containing either 0, 5, 15, 25 or 35 g garlic per kg were compared. The birds were reared in a pyramid-type laying cage during the experimental period. Blood and eggs were collected 3 times for the determination of cholesterol concentration in serum and yolk. Laying performance in terms of body wt. gain, egg wt., total egg mass and FCR were recorded. Use of garlic at increasing concn. demonstrated negative linear effects (P < 0.01) on total lipids, yolk cholesterol and serum cholesterol. Analysis of performance data showed no significance differences from the control group except for a linear increase in total egg mass and hen day egg production (P < 0.01). Results suggest that garlic could be used as a hypocholesterolemic dietary feed additive in older hens.