Examining the Effects of Adding Cosmos Sulphureus Flower Powder to the Diet of Mewari Laying Hens on Their Growth, Egg Quality, and Blood Components

Alagbe John Olujimi; Anorue Daniel. N; Ramalan, S.M

doi:10.59890/ijatss.v3i12.149

Authors

Alagbe John Olujimi Gandhi College of Agriculture, Rajasthan
Anorue Daniel. N University of Abuja
Ramalan, S.M University of Abuja Teaching Hospital

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59890/ijatss.v3i12.149

Keywords:

Cosmos Sulphureus, Flower, Phyto-Compounds, Anti-Inflammatory, Performance

Abstract

A 60 days’ experiment was carried out to examine the effects of adding Cosmos sulphureus flower powder to the diet of Mewari laying hens on their growth, egg quality, and blood components. One hundred dual purpose Mewari laying hens at the age of 45 weeks with an average initial weight of 1488 ± 2.00 g were used for the experiment. Birds in treatment 1 (control) received basal diet without Cosmos sulphureus flower powder while those in treatment 2, 3, 4 and 5 were fed basal diet supplemented with Cosmos sulphureus flower powder at 5 g, 10 g, 15 g and 20 g/kg diet respectively. Result on the carotenoid content of Cosmos sulphureus flower powder showed that it contained -carotene (45.12 µg/g) and -cryptoxanthin (20.88 µg/g). Quantification of phyto-compounds in Cosmos sulphureus powder showed that flavonoids had the highest concentration of 16.88 % while glycosides was lowest (0.11 %). Other compounds found in the sample were, phenols (12.06 %), tannins (9.51 %), alkaloids (3.95 %), steroids (2.70 %) and saponins (0.68 %). Dietary supplementation of Cosmos sulphureus flower powder enhanced (p<0.05) the average final weight, Average weight gain, feed conversion ratio, hen day egg production, hen housed egg production except average feed consumption and creatinine level (p˃0.05). Cosmos sulphureus flower powder dietary supplementation increased (p<0.05) egg weight, egg shape, egg length, albumen height, yolk colour and haugh unit. The levels of haematocrit, haemoglobin, red blood cell, total protein, serum levels of alanine transaminase and aspartate aminotransferase and decreased (p<0.05) cholesterol level. In conclusion, dietary supplementation of Cosmos sulphureus flower powder up to 20 g/kg diet of hens had no detrimental effect on their growth performance and health status

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