Use of yeast cell walls and Yucca schidigera extract in layer hens' diets

This research was conducted to determine the impact of diet supplementation with yeast cell walls (YCW) and Yucca schidigera extract (YE) on performance, egg weight, specific gravity, body weight, and intestinal tissue hist­ology in layer hens. White, 48-week-old, Hy-line hybrid hens (n=320) were divided into four main groups, each comprising eight groups of 10 hens: (1) control, (2) 500 mg/kg YCW added, (3) 500 mg/kg YE added and (4) 250 mg/kg YE plus 2500 mg/kg YCW added. While the egg production and feed intake of the hens was significantly affected, overall feed efficiency, damaged-egg ratio, dirty-egg ratio, egg weight and specific gravity did not differ between the control group and the YCW, YE or YCW+YE groups. Final body weight was higher in the YCW, YE and YCW+YE groups than in the control group. There were differences in the width, muscle layer thickness and height/crypt depth ratio of the duodenal villus and the width of the ileal villus among the four groups. It can be concluded that YCW and YCW+YE supplementation for layer hens are beneficial for egg production.