Abstract:

This study was carried out to determine the effects of lovastatin supplementation on laying performance, egg quality, yolk lipid profile and some serum parameters in Lohmann LS white commercial laying hens reared in poultry houses of Food and Livestock Application and Research Center of Ataturk University. In this experiment, Lohmann layers (n=48, 46 wks of age) were randomly divided into two groups such as control (C) fed with basal diet and treatment (L) group fed with diet including 0,0059 % of lovastatin. After one week of the adaptation period, experiment lasted for five weeks. During the experimental period, hens were fed as ad-libitum and water through nipples was available for all the times. Lovastatin supplementation increased feed consumption (FC) and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Except for yolk color, other egg quality traits were not affected by diet including 0,0059 % of lovastatin. Hens fed with treatment diet had greater triglyceride and phosphatidyl serine values than hens fed with basal diet. Differences between the groups in terms of the levels of egg yolk and serum cholesterol were not significant in present study. These differences could be attributed to short experimental period and low lovastatin added to basal diet of hens. In conclusion, further studies should be conducted to clarify the effects of lovastatin supplementation on laying performance, egg quality, yolk lipid profile and some serum parameters in laying hens fed with diets including lovastatin at different levels during long feeding period.

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