A new commercial study with Hy-Line brown hens at a large layer farm has shown that oregano essential oil in layer diets results in more saleable eggs per hen and a reduced mortality.
Two sheds of 90,000 hens were fed either a standard diet or standard diets supplemented with the oregano oil product Orego-Stim from Anpario from 16-81 weeks. Inclusion of the additive initially began at 450 g/tonne of feed from 16-34 weeks of age and was then reduced to 300 g/tonne of feed from 34-81 weeks of age.
The supplementation of the OEO feed additive from start till end of lay resulted in 13 more eggs per hen by 81 weeks and a 2.2% reduction in mortality. Egg quality was also improved compared to hens fed the control diet. OEO supplementation resulted in fewer cracked and dirty eggs, providing a 1.6% increase in first class eggs.
“Overall, the beneficial combination of improved egg quality, egg numbers and larger egg weights resulted in more saleable eggs, increasing the producer’s income,” said Dr Emma Lund, Anpario’s technical support co-ordinator.