Nutritional impact of inclusion of garlic (Allium sativum) and/or onion (Allium cepa L.) powder in laying hens’ diets on their performance, egg quality, and some blood constituents

Bulletin of the National Research Centre

Table 3 Effect of dietary treatments on laying hen performance

Item	Number of egg/hen	Percentage of egg production	Egg mass/hen (g)	Average of egg weight (g)	Feed consumption/hen/day	Feed conversion
First period (28 days)
G₁	22.20^b	79.29^b	1265.07^b	56.94	119.71	2.63^a
G₂	24.08^a	85.98^a	1394.75^a	57.93	124.10	2.44^ab
G₃	24.02^a	85.77^a	1355.08^ab	56.47	122.01	2.42^b
G₄	24.22^a	86.51^a	1381.71^a	57.01	122.38	2.42^b
G₅	24.34^a	86.94^a	1417.46^a	58.26	129.74	2.45^ab
G₆	23.69^a	84.60^a	1356.75^ab	57.23	125.37	2.62^ab
Overall mean ± SE	23.76 ± 0.23	84.85 ± 0.82	1361.80 ± 15.69	57.31 ± 0.31	123.88 ± 1.31	2.49 ± 0.03
Second period (28 days)
G₁	22.86^c	75.60^c	1326.21^c	58.01	128.44	2.72^a
G₂	24.57^ab	81.25^ab	1466.08^ab	59.68	129.96	2.49^bc
G₃	25.89^a	85.62^a	1505.41^a	58.22	122.95	2.29^c
G₄	24.81^ab	82.04^ab	1478.12^ab	59.57	125.98	2.39^bc
G₅	23.40^bc	77.38^bc	1391.74^bc	59.49	128.82	2.59^ab
G₆	25.05^a	82.84^a	1471.52^a	58.67	123.25	2.37^bc
Overall mean ± SE	24.43 ± 0.25	80.79 ± 0.84	1439.85 ± 16.71	58.94 ± 0.31	126.57 ± 1.14	2.47 ± 0.04
Third period (28 days)
G₁	21.84^b	72.22^b	1278.72^b	58.55^b	124.26	2.73^a
G₂	24.36^a	80.56^a	1502.66^a	61.60^ab	126.76	2.37^b
G₃	25.47^a	84.23^a	1525.08^a	59.88^ab	124.26	2.29^b
G₄	23.97^a	79.27^a	1453.98^a	60.62^ab	125.44	2.43^b
G₅	23.79^a	78.67^a	1463.28^a	61.46^ab	125.98	2.42^b
G₆	24.93^a	82.44^a	1558.63^a	62.37^a	128.66	2.33^b
Overall mean ± SE	24.06 ± 0.30	79.56 ± 0.99	1463.72 ± 24.79	60.75 ± 0.44	125.89 ± 1.03	2.43 ± 0.04

a, b, and c: means in the same column having different superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05)
SEM standard error of mean, G₁ control, G₂ contained 0.5% garlic powder, G₃ contained 1% garlic powder, G₄ contained 1% onion powder, G₅ contained 1% onion powder + 0.5% garlic powder, G₆ contained 1% onion powder + 1% garlic powder