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Objective: Seaweeds could be an alternative and functional feed resource. The purpose of this experiment is to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of Sargassum meal on laying performance and egg quality of layers. Methods: Two hundred 36-wk-old layers were divided into five treatment groups. Each treatment had four replicates with 10 hens per experimental unit. The corn-soybean meal basal diet was formulated as control group. Sargassum meals were included 0%, 1%, 2%, 3%, or 5% to diets for five treatment groups, respectively. Treatment groups were isocaloricisonitrogenous diets. Laying performance and egg quality were measured for eight weeks. Results: Sargassum meal supplementation did not affect daily feed intake. Supplementation 1% to 3% of Sargassum meal in diets increased daily laying rate and egg mass compared with those from control group (p<0.05). Egg qualities among five groups were all similar. Supplementation of 3% Sargassum meal increased the lightness of egg yolk (p<0.05). Eggs produced from layers fed 1% and 2% Sargassum meal had a higher consumer's acceptability than the control group (p<0.05). In blood characteristics, contents of glucose, nitrogen, triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) increased as the increase of supplementation ratio of Sargassum meal (p<0.05). In serum antibody titers, supplementation of 2% Sargassum meal stimulated a higher immunoglobulin M (IgM) level than that from control group (p<0.05). However, IgM content of layers fed diets with Sargassum meal ≥3% were decreased (p<0.05). There was no difference in IgA and IgG titers among groups. Conclusion: Supplementation of 1% to 3% Sargassum meal has shown to increase egg laying rate and egg mass of Leghorn layers. However, high supplementation (5%) would negatively affect laying performance. In consideration of laying performance, egg quality, consumer responses, and blood antibody, supplementation of Sargassum meal was suggested 2% in the diet for layers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cordyceps militaris waster medium (CMWM) is a by-product of the edible portion of the fruiting body of Cordyceps fungi. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the CMWM on the production performance, egg quality and egg yolk cholesterol of laying hens. An in vitro study showed that the reducing power of the CMWM extracts increased linearly with its concentration; at a concentration of 4.0mg/mL, it reached a level of roughly 60% ascorbic acid at 0.5mg/mL, while inhibition of lipid peroxidation of the CMWM extracts at 15.0mg/mL reached nearly 50%. Sixty 22-week-old laying hens (Hendrix) were randomly allocated into 4 groups with 5 replicates, 3 birds per replicate. They were fed diets supplemented with the following levels of the CMWM: 0 (control group, corn-soybean meal), 5.0, 10.0, or 20.0 g/kg dried CMWM groups for 12 weeks, respectively. The results revealed that the 20.0 g/kg CMWM group exhibited significantly decreased feed conversion ratio (FCR) and increased egg white weight compared to the control group at 5-8 and 9-12 weeks. The supplemented CMWM groups showed significantly elevated egg mass in comparison to the control group at 5-8 and 9-12 weeks. There were no effects for egg yolk weight, egg shell weight, shell thickness and egg yolk color between the groups. Those groups which were supplemented with 10.0 and 20.0 g/kg dried CMWM showed significantly decreased egg cholesterol compared to the control group at 9-12 weeks. On the basis of these observations, we concluded that CMWM, a by-product of Cordyceps militaris, could be employed as a new feed additive that offers potential benefits for elevating egg mass and producing lower cholesterol eggs by laying hens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]