Abstract

The present study was conducted to evaluate the impact of cholesterol lowering effect of Psyllium husk in egg yolk cholesterol through dietary supplementation in white Leghorn layers. A total of 180 commercial layer hens were randomly divided into four equal groups of 45 birds each to be allocated to four dietary regimes, consist of 0, 5, 10 and 20 g of Psyllium per kg diet, each group was subdivided into three replicate containing 15 layers per replicate. Dietary treatments had a non-significant effect on weight gain, egg production, feed intake and mortality. There was a positive impact of dietary Psyllium levels on egg mass and shell thickness, however, haugh unit and egg shape index deteriorated with higher dietary inclusion of Psyllium. Cholesterol levels in yolk and blood reduced significantly (P < 0.05) with an increasing level of dietary Psyllium. The results from present study suggested that dietary inclusion of Psyllium can be an effective tool for the reduction of blood and egg yolk cholesterol levels.