EFFECTS OF CHINESE HERBAL FORMULA ON EGG PRODUCTION AND ANTIOXIDATION FUNCTION IN HENS

摘要

A total of 200 24-week-old Laifeng hens were at random divided into 4 groups (n=50 per group). The same diet was fed to hens in 4 groups. The same Chinese herbal medicine with 3 different dosages was added into the diet and given to hens in Groups 1 to 3 for 40 days accordingly. Hens in Group 4, as the control group, were fed with the same diet without Chinese herbal medicine. Performance indexes including egg lay rate, egg weight per hen were analyzed. The antibody titer against Newcastle disease virus (NDV) in the serum and antioxidative enzyme activities including superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px), and malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured respectively. The Chinese herbal medicine was formulated on the basis of the principle to tonify the Spleen and Kidney, and clear Heat and calm the spirit to improve the performance. The results showed that the egg-laying rate and egg weights in all three herbal medicine groups were all high than that of the control group during 40 days experiment periods. Group 1 with 0.5% additive of Chinese herbal medicine showed the best result. The enzymatic activities of SOD, GSH-Px in all 3 herbal medicine groups were higher than that of the control group while the activity of MDA in 3 herbal medicine groups was lower than that of the control group. At the same time, the antibody titer against NDV in the serum in all 3 herbal medicine groups was higher than that of the control group. In conclusion, the performance of laying hens was enhanced by this herbal formula which also improved the immunity function and oxidation resistance.