Effects of Dietary Vitamin C, Vitamin E, and Betaine Supplementations on Productive Performance, Egg Quality, Antioxidant Status, Immune Response, and Stress Indicator in Laying Hens Raised under Heat Stress Conditions

Abstract

The objective of the present experiment was to investigate the effects of dietary vitamin C (VC), vitamin E (VE), and betaine (BT)supplementations on productive performance, egg quality, relative organ weights, liver visual characteristics, antioxidant status, immuneresponse, and stress indicator in laying hens raised under heat stress conditions. A total of 280 47-wk-old Hy-Line Brown laying henswere allotted to 1 of 4 dietary treatments with 7 replicates in a completely randomized design. Each replicate had 10 birds per cage. The basal diet was formulated to meet or exceed the requirement estimates for Hy-Line Brown laying hens. Three additional diets wereprepared by adding 250 mg/kg VC, 250 mg/kg VE, or 3,000 mg/kg BT to the basal diet. The experimental diets and water were providedto hens on an ad libitum basis for 8 wk. Average daily room temperature and relative humidity were 30.7±1.41℃ and 72.5±11.61%,respectively. Results indicated that hens fed diets containing 250 mg/kg VE had a less (p<0.05) egg production rate than other dietarytreatments. For egg quality, hens fed diets containing 3,000 mg/kg BT had a less (p<0.05) eggshell thickness than those fed the dietscontaining 250 mg/kg VC or 250 mg/kg VE. For antioxidant status, there was a tendency (p=0.09) for the least malondialdehyde (MDA)concentrations in the liver for BT treatment. A tendency (p=0.05) was observed for less blood heterophil:lymphocyte ratio in BT treatmentas compared to other treatments. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of 250 mg/kg VC, 250 mg/kg VE, and 3,000 mg/kg BT hasno beneficial effects on productive performance, egg quality, relative organ weights, liver visual characteristics, and immune responsesof laying hens raised under the current heat stress conditions. However, dietary supplementation of 3,000 mg/kg BT alleviates antioxidantstatus and stress response of laying hens exposed to heat stress.