Yumurtacı Tavuklarda Çiya Tohumunun Performans ve Yumurta Kalitesine Etkisi.

This study was carried out to determine the effect of adding different amounts of chia seeds as prebiotics to laying hen feed on egg production and the internal and external quality characteristics of eggs. In the study, 96-laying hens at the age of 25 weeks were used. Laying hens were divided into four groups, each consisting of six subgroups, and four chickens were included in each subgroup. During the 70 days, the control group was given no additive laying hen feed while other groups were given feeds containing 0.50 %, 0.75 %, and 1.00 % chia seeds, respectively. As the result, there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of feed consumption, feed conversion ratio, egg production, egg weight, egg specific gravity, eggshell thickness, Haugh unit, and white index (P>0.05). In terms of live weight gains, there was a difference in favour of the group that added chia seeds at the level of 1.00% (P<0.05). It was observed that the body weight gains were 71.83 g, 40.42 g, 87.85 g, and 116.9 g in the control, 0.50 %, 0.75 %, and 1.00 % chia groups, respectively. In conclusion, it is seen that adding chia seeds to the rations at different rates did not have a significant effect on other parameters except for live weight gain in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]