ISSUE FOCUS 62 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE November 2022 weight (weekly), mortality (daily), laying performance (daily), egg quality (weekly), and egg fertility (week 35 and 42), and feed clean-up time (day 175 and day 245) were analysed. Final data were corrected for mortality. The fertility of eggs was determined on weeks 35 and 42 as a percentage of total settable eggs. All eggs were candled on the seventh day of incubation and eggs with unclear embryos were removed and opened for visual inspection. In comparison to the control group, TechnoSpore® supplementation significantly increased the total egg production and total settable eggs per hen (Figure 1). Moreover, probiotic supplementation enhanced egg mass per hen (Figure 1). TechnoSpore® supplementation also resulted in a significant improvement of egg yolk weight and eggshell thickness (Figure 2), although the average egg weight was reduced. This small decrease in egg weight is attributed to the increase in egg number as there is likely some limit, biologically, to production boundaries. No significant difference between the two groups in weekly egg weight difference, average body weight, and cleaning-up time were noted. In contrast to the control group in which eight fatalities were recorded (mortality rate of 6.7 %), no deaths in the TechnoSpore® group were noted. Additionally, a positive effect of Techno-Spore® supplementation on egg fertility (an average improvement of 2.5 %) was observed compared to the control group (Figure 3). Figure 1. Effect of TechnoSpore® on total egg count, total settable egg count (not broken, cracked, deformed, or excessively small; dirt-free), and produced egg mass per hen. Asterisks indicate significant differences (p ≤ 0.05). Figure 2. Effect of TechnoSpore® on average egg weight, average egg yolk weight, and average shell thickness. Asterisks indicate significant differences (p ≤ 0.05).
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