Effect of levels of niacin supplementation on egg quality

Abstract

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of niacin supplementation in layers diets on the internal and external quality of table eggs. A total of 75 laying birds at 24 weeks of age were used in the trial. Four dietary treatments with niacin at 0ppm, 30ppm, 40ppm, and 50ppm were fed to the birds for a period of 20 weeks. Each treatment had 18 birds comprising of 3 replicates of six birds each.Twenty four eggs (2 per replicate) from each treatment were used for the egg quality analysis at four weeks interval for the 20 weeks of the experiment. Significant (p<0.05) effect of niacin was noticed in the egg shape index (ESI) and shell thickness at (0-4) and (4-8) weeks of the experiment when 50ppm of niacin was fed. The shell % was significant (p<0.05) at (16-20) weeks of the experiment when 30ppm of niacin was fed. No significant differences were noticed in egg weight and yolk %. Egg shape index, (ESI) was generally above 0.66 across all the treatment groups.