In order to investigate the effect of feeding live yeast culture on the performance of laying hens, a feeding trial was conducted with 96 20-wk-old Hy4ine brown layers during their laying period of 60 wk. The live yeast culture used was a product from...
In order to investigate the effect of feeding live yeast culture on the performance of laying hens, a feeding trial was conducted with 96 20-wk-old Hy4ine brown layers during their laying period of 60 wk. The live yeast culture used was a product from Saccharomyces cerevisiae that was cultured on the corn-based substrate followed by careful drying of whole material not to lose the viability of yeast. Three levels of yeast culture as 0.5, 1.0, and 2.0% for three treatments and 0% for the control were included in the experimental diets. The feeding trial was carried out for 60 wk from August 26, 1992 to October 26, 1993. To evaluate the performance of layers during cold or hot periods as affected by the yeast culture feeding, data from the 12-wk winter period and 12-wk summer period were separated and analyzed accordingly. During 60 wk of laying period hen-day egg production was slightly but significantly(P<.05) improved by feeding the yeast culture. The average egg weight and daily egg weight(g /day) were also increased by the yeast culture. Feeding the yeast culture did not increase feed intake but feed efficiency was improved significantly (P<.05). No significant difference was detected in egg or eggshell qualities between control and yeast culture-treated groups. Feed intake and egg weight were not affected by the yeast culture feeding under both cold and hot period, but egg production and feed efficiency during hot summer improved significantly by its feeding. This result indicates that the effectiveness of the yeast culture feeding is greater during summer than winter for laying hens.