Inclusion of crude corn oil with high acidity in the feed of laying hens: analysis of egs production and quality

The objective of this study was to evaluate egg production and quality after including crude corn oil with high acidity (CCOHA) in the feed of laying hens. The design was completely randomized to three treatments and six replicates each. The sample included 90 hens of the Lohmann LSL lineage, housed in cages; each cage contained five animals and constituted an experimental unit. The evaluated feeds were corn-based feed with degummed soybean oil (CSO), corn-based feed with CCOHA (CC) and sorghum-based feed with CCOHA (SC). At the end of the 28-day cycle, the following productivity parameters were evaluated: egg weight at laying (EWL), laying percentage (LP), feed conversion per dozen eggs (FCDZ) and feed conversion per egg mass (FCEM). The evaluated internal and external quality parameters of the eggs were yolk percentage (YP), yolk index (YI), and yolk pH (YpH); albumen percentage (AP), albumen index (AI), and albumen pH (ApH); percentage shell (PS) and shell surface area (SSA); Haugh unit (HU) and egg yolk color (EYC). There were no significant differences in EW, LP, FCDZ, and FCEM between the experimental feeds. Moreover, the use of crude corn oil with high acidity in laying hens rations did not influence the parameters of YP, YI, YpH, AP, AI, ApH, PS, SSA, HU, and EYC.