책임운영기관 농촌진흥청 국립축산과학원 (로고)

The objective of this study was to investigate effects of dietary fermented garlic powder (FGP) on productive performance and blood biochemical parameters of layer breeders. A total of 360 layer breeders (312 females and 48 males) were randomly divided into four dietary groups: 1) CON, basal diet; 2) FGP0.5, basal diet with fermented garlic powder at 0.5 g/kg; 3) FGP1.0, basal diet with fermented garlic powder at 1.0 g/kg, and 4) FGP2.0, basal diet with fermented garlic powder at 2.0 g/kg. FGP addition had no significant effect on egg production (EP) or egg weight (EW). However, eggs from groups fed a diet supplemented with FGP showed linearly (P < 0.05) higher hatchability (HAT) than those from the CON group fed a basal diet. Regarding blood parameters, serum concentration of albumin (ALB) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in the group fed diets supplemented with FGP than in the CON group fed a basal diet. FGP supplementation quadratically (P < 0.05) increased serum total protein (TP) level. Aspartate amino transferase (AST), cholesterol (CHOL), and triglyceride (TG) concentrations were significantly (P < 0.05) decreased in the FGP2.0 group than in the CON group. Serum IL-2 level was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in the FGP2.0 group than in the CON group, although IL-6 level showed no significant difference. These findings suggest that dietary supplementation of FGP as a feed additive might improve productive performance and health of layer breeder hens.