Effects of adding various feed additives to diets of laying hens on productive performance and egg quality traits

To evaluate effects of adding two probiotics (Thepax and Yeasturer) and two prebiotics (Fermacto and A-Max), and one synbiotic (Biomin) to iso-caloric and iso-nitrogenous diet (ME = 2720 kcal/kg and CP =145 g/kg) on performance of laying hens and egg quality traits, 216 Lohmann LSL-Lite 76-wk old laying hens were divided in 36 cages (n = 6). Productive performance of hens was recorded for six weeks and egg quality characteristics were measured on the last week of trial. Feed additives did not have significant effect on EP, FCR, FI and EM in the present study. Including diets with feed additives in the present experiment significantly increased EW. Egg shell weight and shell thickness were increased in the hens fed additive-included diets compared to hens fed the control diet. In conclusion, feed additives used in this investigation did have beneficial effects on egg quality characteristics in terms of egg shell weight and shell thickness, with no beneficial effects on hen's productive performance.