Abstract

The use of essential oils (EOs) in animal feeding has gained attention as a potential antibiotic growth promoter replacement over the past two decades. The current study aimed to determine the impact of three feed additives, namely black pepper, turmeric, and fennel, on the productivity of laying hens, the chemical composition, and macro and microelement content in layer eggs. A total of 280 chicks aged 75 days were randomly divided into 7 treatments (5 replicates of 8 chicks). One treatment group was provided as the unsupplemented control. The other six treatment groups, namely D0 (basal diet BD control), D1 (BD + 1% of black pepper), D2 (BD + 1% of turmeric), D3 (BD + 1% of fennel), D4 (BD + 0.5% of black pepper + 0.5% of turmeric), D5 (BD + 0.5% of black pepper + 0.5% of fennel), D6 (BD + 0.5% of turmeric + 0.5% of fennel) were supplemented with varying levels of phytobiotics. The result of the study indicated that the egg weight, Hen-day-production (HDP), egg quality, and haugh unit significantly improved with a combined supplementation of phytobiotics (D4, D5, and D6 diets) when compared with the control. However, there were no significant differences in the chemical composition of eggs. The X-ray fluorescence spectrometer analysis of eggs revealed the presence of 17 significant elements, including phosphorous, sulfur, chlorine, potassium, calcium, manganese, iron, copper, zinc, and bromine. The study findings showed that the combined supplementation of phytobiotics lowered K and Cl, whereas Zn, Ca, S, and Cu contents positively increased in hen eggs by including phytobiotic in the diet. In conclusion, the EOs of phytobiotics as dietary supplementation at 1% and 0.5% could improve the HDP, egg weight, and egg mass, including nutrient elements in the egg. © 2023, Journal of World''s Poultry Research. All Rights Reserved.