Influence of rare earth elements on production performance in post peak layer chickens

Abstract

A biological study was conducted to determine the effect of dietary supplementation of different levels of rare earth elements (lanthanum and cerium) on egg production, feed intake, feed efficiency and egg weight in laying hens. A total of 96 White Leghorn laying hens of 52 weeks of age were used in 8 weeks feeding trial. Birds were randomly allotted to three dietary treatments each with four replicates with 8 hens per replicate. Treatment groups consisted of basal diet supplemented with 0, 250mg (lanthanum 100mg and cerium 150 mg) and 500mg/kg (lanthanum 200mg and cerium 300 mg) of rare earth elements. Daily records of egg production and egg weight were maintained. Feed consumption of all three treatment and control groups was recorded every week and the mean feed intake per bird and feed efficiency per egg was calculated. The results of study showed that rare earth elements (lanthanum and cerium) supplemented at 250mg/kg of layers had significantly (P