Abstract

The current study was aimed to investigate the effects of feeding Mospilan and Actara insecticides on egg production performance and meat quality of laying hens. Experimental research was conducted in the laboratory of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine in 2015. The experiments were performed on five groups each consisting of seven chickens. The age of the chickens at the beginning of the experiment was 150 days. The birds were fed the granulated compound feed. In M1 and M2 groups, Mospilan at doses of 65 mg/kg and 32.5 mg/kg of body weight were added to the feed, respectively. In A1 and A2 groups, Actara at doses of 360 mg/kg and 180 mg/kg of body weight were added to the feed, respectively. Chickens of the control group were fed without the addition of insecticides to the feed. The feeding period lasted 30 days and finally, egg production performance, meat quality, and gross pathological changes were evaluated. Egg production rate in M1 and M2 groups in comparison to the control group decreased by 78.4 and 29.7%, respectively. Egg production rate in A1 and A2 groups reduced by 89.2% and 48.7% compared to the control group, respectively. Chickens in groups of receiving insecticides had pale skin and enlarged heart, also showed spot hemorrhages in mucous membranes of the glandular stomach and intestine, color heterogeneity of the lungs, and the liver was dark cherry in color with hemorrhage. In addition, the relative weights of internal organs decreased by 23-36% in experimental groups. In the experimental groups, the pH of meat decreased at day 4 post-slaughter, and the meat broth with the addition of 5% copper sulfate solution was slightly cloudy with flakes. The meat of birds from the experimental groups was low toxic. Extracts from chicken meat of the experimental groups caused pathological changes, inhibition of movements and death of 13-16% of Tetrahymena pyriformis infusoria. This study demonstrated that the presence of Mospilan and Aktara in feed reduced the egg production rate, caused chronic poisoning, changed biochemical processes in chicken meat and increased its toxicity.