Effect of adding lavender oil to laying quail diets on performance, egg quality, oxidative status, and fatty acid profile.

This study aims to investigate the effects of lavender essential oil on performance, egg quality parameters in quails, malondialdehyde (MDA) in fresh and stored (28 days at +4°C) eggs, and individual and total fatty acids. To this end, 100 female quails (Coturnix coturnix Japonica) which were 5 weeks old with an average weight of 224 g were used. The study lasted 45 days, including 10 days of introduction and 35 days of study. Quails were fed ad libitum with four different treatments. Four groups were formed as control groups (0g lavender essential oil/kg feed), Lav125 (125mg lavender essential oil/kg feed), Lav250 (250mg lavender essential oil/kg feed), and Lav500 (500mg lavender essential oil/kg feed). There were five subgroups under each group and five quails in each subgroup. Feed consumption and egg weight parameters increased in Lav500 group compared to the control group (p<0.05). The highest egg yield compared to the control group was determined in Lav500 group (p>0.05), and the highest egg mass compared to the control group was determined in Lav125 group. The highest feed conversion ratio compared to the control group was in Lav250 group (p>0.05). In addition, egg white height and Haugh Unit (HU) compared to the control group were the highest in Lav500 group (p<0.05). The MDA concentration decreased in Lav125 and Lav250 group in fresh and in Lav500 group in stored eggs (at +4C for 28 days) compared to the control group (p<0.05). Omega 3 fatty acids in fresh and stored eggs were higher in lavender groups compared to the control group (p<0.05). However, the concentration of omega 9 (oleic acid) fatty acid decreased in the lavender groups compared to the control group (p<0.05). As a result, it was found that adding lavender essential oil to the diet leads to an increase in body weight, egg yield, egg mass, egg weight, egg white height, HU, omega 3 fatty acids, and a decrease in MDA concentration.

Fatty acid compositions and quality of egg and performance in laying quails fed diet with hesperidin.

This study investigates the effects of hesperidin on eggs' internal and external quality parameters, the fatty acid in egg yolk, and the nutrient content adding different amounts of hesperidin to the quail diets. A total of 150 Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica) were divided into three groups (0% hesperidin group (n = 5 × 10) (control group; HES0), 0.1% hesperidin group (HES1), and 0.2% hesperidin group (HES2)) with five replicates. It has been found in the analysis that hesperidin did not affect the weight and thickness of the shell from the external quality parameters of the egg (P > 0.05), but in terms of the HES1 and HES2 groups, the weight of the egg increased compared to the HES0 group, while the fracture resistance of the shell decreased (P < 0.05). Eggs' internal quality parameters have shown that the egg white width (P < 0.05) and the yolk diameter (P < 0.01) increased in the HES1 and HES2 groups, and the length of white decreased (P < 0.05). It has been found that n-6 (linoleic acid) and n-3 (docosahexaenoic acid) fatty acid values increased significantly according to hesperidin dosage (P < 0.05) from the parameters of the composition of fatty acids of the eggs. As a result, it is believed that hesperidin added to the diet has a generally positive effect on the fatty acid composition and internal and external quality parameters of the eggs and would be appropriate to use it as a feed additive.