Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation of probiotic (Lactobacillus acidophilus), phytobiotics (bay leaves, onion peel and garlic peel) or their combination on blood parameters, morphology of digestive tract and performance of laying hens. The experiment used 144 laying hens aged 72 weeks old, and divided into 6 treatments including Ctl (basal feed as control); Pr (basal feed + 1.2 mL/day of probiotic L. acidophilus); Ph2 (basal diet + 2 phytobiotic of diet); PrPh2 (basal diet + 1.2 mL/day probiotic + 2 phytobiotic); PrPh4 (basal diet +1.2 mL/day probiotic + 4 phytobiotic) and PrPh6 (basal diet + 1.2 mL/day probiotic + 6 phytobiotic). Feed intake and egg mass were weekly recorded. One chick from each replicate was blood sampled and then slaughtered for data collection. Results showed that treatments had no effect on hemoglobin, erythrocyte and leukocyte of hens. The control hens had higher levels of cholesterol and LDL than that of PrPh2, PrPh4 and PrPh6 hens. HDL level tended to be higher in PrPh2 and PrPh4 as compared to control hens. Compared to control, the villi height of jejunum was higher in the treated hens, with PrPh4 had the highest villi height. Ileal protein digestibility tended to be higher in the treated than that in control hens. Also, there was a clear tendency that feed conversion ratio was lower in the treated hens than that of control. In conclusion, the combined use of probiotics and phytobiotics improved physiological condition, ileal histomorphology, ileal protein digestibility and feed conversion of laying hens during post peak production. © 2021, Online Journal of Animal and Feed Research. All rights reserved.