Quality characteristics of eggs from chickens fed diets containing cerium chloride as rare earth element

O A Adu¹ and O J Olarotimi^1,2

¹ Department of Animal Production and Health, School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology, The Federal University of Technology, Akure, P.M.B. 704, Ondo state, Nigeria
olarotimioj@futa.edu.ng
² Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Adekunle Ajasin University, P.M.B. 001, Akungba-Akoko, Nigeria

Abstract

A sixteen-week study was carried out to investigate the effects of Cerium Chloride (CeCl), a rare earth element (REE), on some external and internal egg quality characteristics. It was included in the experimental diets at 0, 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg diet. The study revealed that CeCl significantly (P<0.05) improved the hen day egg production (HDEP) and all the external egg qualities except the egg specific gravity, egg density, shell ratio, shell density, and shell index. The internal egg qualities, however, were not significantly (P>0.05) influenced except the albumen height and Haugh unit. It could be concluded that there is high egg value addition in the use of CeCl, like other REE, as an alternative to the traditional use of antibiotics and, hence, further strengthened the campaign against the extensive use of antibiotics in poultry production.

Keywords: antibiotics, diets, egg parameters, hen day egg production

Introduction

The extensive use of antibiotics as feed additive in poultry production, especially, when fed for a prolonged period of time has been widely discouraged due to proliferation of antibiotic-resistant strains of microbes that hamper the efficiency of such practice and attendant antibiotics residues in the poultry meat and eggs which pose a health risks to the consumer of such products. This has necessitated the ban on the use of all antibiotic feed additives by the European Union in 2006. Hence, this ban had opened a window advocating for safe, cheap and efficient alternatives to the traditional antibiotic feed additives (Redling 2006). In recent times, rare earth elements (REEs) have been proposed as the new generation of feed additives, in poultry production, with growth-promoting tendencies (Kudi et al 2015). The elements with atomic numbers 57 (lanthanum) through 71 (lutetium) are referred to as the rare earth elements (RREs) and they are the 15 lanthanides which are in group III-A of the periodic table. Among the REEs, the potentials of cerium (Ce), as feed additives in monogastric nutrition, have been severally stressed (Pagano et al 2015). Adu et al (2015) reported an improved feed intake, feed conversion ratio, daily weight gain and health status in rabbit does fed diets supplemented with 200 mg/kg cerium oxide (CeO) without an attendant deleterious effect. In another development, CeO dietary supplementation at 300 mg/kg was reported to have positively enhanced the external egg qualities of laying hens (Bölükbaşi et al 2016). In the swine diet, 300 mg/kg diet CeO was observed to confer a significant increase in body weight gain (Xu et al 1999). The objective of the study was to evaluate the effects of Cerium Chloride (CeCl) on the egg quality parameters of laying hens.

Material and Methods

The experimental site was the Poultry Unit, Teaching and Research Farm, The Federal University of Technology Akure, Nigeria. The research enjoyed the approval of the research ethics and guidelines of the Animal Production and Health Department of the institution. Four (4) experimental diets labelled A, B, C and D (Table 1) were constituted containing varying inclusion levels of Cerium Chloride (CeCl) at 0, 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg diet, respectively. A total of one hundred and twenty (120) point-of-lay (POL) Isa Brown pullets of sixteen (16) weeks old sourced from a reliable farm were used for the study. They were placed on a commercial grower mash until they have reached 20% laying performance (24 weeks of age) before being placed on the experimental rations for sixteen weeks. Each of the experimental diets was replicated five (5) times and six (6) pullets were randomly assigned per treatment in a completely randomized. Feed was given according to body weight and age twice daily in line with the Isa Brown management manual and drinking water was also provided ad libitum. All required managerial practices such as strict biosecurity measures were ensured and, when due, appropriate vaccines and prophylactic treatments were administered.

Assessment of Egg Quality Parameters

At about 50% laying performance, eggs collected were analyzed weekly for both the internal and external egg qualities. Six (6) eggs were randomly selected per replicate (i.e. 30 eggs /treatment) on a weekly basis for the assessments. Qualities such as egg, yolk and shell weights were assessed using a laboratory scale. The albumen weight was the difference between the weights of the yolk, shell and whole egg. A micrometer screw gauge was used in determining the shell thickness. Internal and external qualities such as egg weight, length, width, index, surface area; yolk weight, height, diameter, ratio, index; albumen weight, length, height, diameter, index, ratio; shell weight, thickness, ratio, and Haugh unit (HU) were determined (Olumide et al 2016). Egg surface area (ESA) was determined as described by Haugh (1937) and reported by Lewis and Perry (1987) using the formula:

ESA/SSA = W^0.667 x 4.67
W = Average Egg Weight
0.667 and 4.67 are constants.

Yolk index was calculated using as the relationship between yolk height and width:

Yolk index = Yolk height / Yolk width

Haugh Unit (HU) was estimated as HU = 100 log (H + 7.57 – 1.7W ^0.37)
H = albumen height
W = egg weight (Oluyemi and Roberts 2000).

Egg Mass

The use of egg mass rather than egg numbers is to ensure better comparisons of flocks. It is estimated as Average Egg Mass = HDEP x Average egg weight in grammes (Fikru et al 2015).

Egg Specific Gravity

Egg Specific Gravity (ESG) proposed by Harms et al (1991):

ESG = 1.9754EW / (1.9140EW) - ESW
EW = egg weight
ESW = egg shell weight
1.9754 and 1.9140 are constants.
Shell weight per unit egg surface area (SWUSA) = (3.9782EW)^0.666.

Other egg qualities parameters were estimated using the equations postulated by Paganelli et al (1974):
- Area vs. egg volume (V, cm³):
SA = 4.951 EV^0.666
- Egg density (ED, g cm^-³) vs. egg weight:
ED= 1.038 EW^0.006
- Shell density ( ShDgcm^-³) vs. egg weight:
SD = 1.945 EW^0.014
- Shell Volume (SV, cm³) vs. egg weight:
SV = 2.48 x 10-2 W^1.ll8

Data Analysis

Data collected were subjected to a one-way analysis of variance using the SAS Statistical Package. Where significant differences occur, the means were separated using Duncan multiple range tests (DMRT) of the same statistical package.

Results and Discussion

External Egg Qualities

There is a paucity of information on the effects of CeCl on the external and internal egg qualities of laying hens. Egg quality is an important determining factor in consumer acceptability of the product. It is, therefore, crucial that deserving attention is given to the issues concerning the maintenance of egg qualities (Tabeekh 2011). The results of this study (Table 2) have clearly shown that dietary CeCl positively (p<0.05) enhanced the hen day egg production (HDEP) and all the external egg qualities except the egg specific gravity, egg density, Shell ratio, shell density, and shell index. A major trait used in assessing the performance of laying hens is %HDP. The significant (p<0.05) increase observed in HDEP among the birds on the diets containing 50 to 150 mg/kg CeCl as compared with those on the control diet was indicative of the increasing effects of this REE on the production performance of laying hens. This was in consonance with the findings of Bölükbaşi et al (2016) and Reka et al (2019) who both reported significant increases in the HDEP of layer chickens fed 150 to 300 mg/kg CeO. Similarly, Zhou (1994) observed an increased percentage of egg production in laying ducks fed diets supplemented with 60 mg/kg of rare earth elements. Furthermore, Gong (1996) observed an increased laying rate in broiler breeder birds fed diets supplemented with 100 mg/kg REE. The improvement noticed in the present study might be due to the enhanced absorption of Ca and CeCl. Martin and Richardson (1979) explained that REE resembles Ca and act as cofactors to replace Ca in various biological processes in laying hens. The increased HDEP in the present study clearly indicated that CeCl did not constitute a potent stressor to laying hens at the inclusion levels administered in the study. The improved egg weight recorded in this study also agreed with the report of Reka et al, 2019, but was totally in variance with Bölükbaşi et al (2016) who did not report a significant increase in egg weight of laying hens fed CeO. Egg weight is mainly influenced by dietary protein because it is required to synthesize egg albumen, and a decrease in dietary protein may reduce the amount of albumen, leading to a smaller egg size (Bezerra et al 2015). The increase in egg weight and volume among the hens on diets CeCl in this experiment is suggestive of the effect of CeCl in enhancing the dietary protein of the experimental diets. Eggs with thick and strong shells usually have a better appeal to the consumers (Oke et al 2014). This characteristic is a very important economic sell point because increased shell thickness means improved shell breaking strength and shell quality to reduce the number of cracked eggs. The improved eggshell thickness and weight among the pullets fed CeCl is indicative that calcium absorption and utilization were positively enhanced by CeCl inclusion.

Internal Egg Qualities

The internal egg quality deals with the functional characteristics of the egg. In this study, all the internal egg qualities were not significantly (p>0.05) influenced by the inclusion levels of CeCl used except the albumen height and Haugh unit which were significantly improved by the inclusion levels across all the treatment diets when compared with those on the control. Albumen and Haugh unit are major determinants of internal egg quality. The higher albumen heights and Haugh units observed in the eggs of the hens on the treatment diets indicate that the inclusion of CeCl at the levels used in the present study positively enhanced the superiority of the quality of the eggs. The result of the present study on the influence of CeCl on Haugh units agreed with the findings of Cai et al (2016) who reported increased Haugh units with increasing dietary inclusion of REE in the diet of laying hens.

Conclusion

• The findings in this study have clearly indicated that using rare earth elements, especially, CeCl, as feed additives in laying hens’ diets positively enhanced egg quality parameters apart from their already established nutritional advantages.
  
  
• The fact that none of the studied egg quality parameters was negatively influenced has shown that the economic values of the eggs from the birds fed diets containing CeCl would not be compromised but rather would bring about a product without any antibiotic residues.

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Received 29 February 2020; Accepted 5 March 2020; Published 1 April 2020

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