Dietary arginine silicate inositol supplementation supports egg quality and bone metabolism in late phase laying hens

Abstract

Dietary Arginine Silicate Inositol (ASI) was investigated as a nutritional intervention to enhance performance, egg characteristics, and bone quality of hens in late lay through mechanisms related to calcium metabolism. Lohmann LSL-Lite laying hens (7 hens/cage) were randomized into 5 dietary treatments: control, 0.025 %, 0.05 %, 0.10 %, or 0.15 % ASI with 10 cage replicates for a 16-wk trial separated into 2 phases, 65 to 75 wk (phase 5) and 76 to 81 wk (phase 6). Hens were weighed monthly, and feed intake, egg characteristics, and additional production parameters were recorded weekly and compiled by phase and overall. Blood and fecal samples were collected once monthly for calcium metabolism analysis (1 hen/cage; and 24 h total fecal collection/cage via pan, respectively). A subset of hens and excised tibia were scanned by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry at baseline and study conclusion. ASI supplementation did not affect weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, or egg production in phase 5, phase 6, or overall (P > 0.05). Feeding 0.05 % ASI improved eggshell strength in phase 5 and overall compared to all treatments (P < 0.05). Dietary ASI supplementation of 0.10 and 0.15 % increased the bone mineral content (BMC) vs control at wk 81 (P < 0.05). Calcium excretion linearly decreased with increasing ASI levels at 69 wk (excreta; P < 0.05), while phosphorus excretion was unaffected. Excreta trace minerals, including iron, manganese, and zinc, decreased linearly with higher dietary ASI levels at 81 wk of age (P < 0.05). Overall, dietary ASI supplementation supported egg quality and bone metabolism in a dose-dependent manner in aged hens, likely by improving mineral retention and calcium bioavailability during the late-laying cycle.

Keywords: Bone quality; Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry; Egg quality; Laying hen; Laying performance.

Fig. 1

Whole body hen bone mineral and excised tibia assessment using dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) of late LSL-Lite laying hens fed varying levels of dietary arginine silicate inositol (ASI) at baseline (65-wk-old) and at the end of the study (81-wk-old). Measurements include (A) Whole hen bone mineral content, (B) Whole hen bone mineral density, (C) Excised tibia bone mineral content, (D) Excised tibia bone mineral density, (E) Bone breaking strength of excised tibias, and (F) Correlation plot of tibia bone mineral density vs tibia bone mineral content. Data are presented as mean ± SEM from 10 replicates per treatment. ^a,b,c,d Different letters indicate significant difference at P ≤ 0.05.

Fig. 2

Serum concentration of (A) Alkaline phosphatase and (B) Osteocalcin, key enzymes involved in bone metabolism, in late LSL-Lite laying hens fed varying levels of dietary arginine silicate inositol (ASI) from 65 to 81 wk of age. Data are presented as mean ± SEM from 10 replicates per treatment. ^a,b Different letters indicate significant difference at P ≤ 0.05.

Fig. 3

Fecal contents of key nutrients necessary for bone metabolism, (A) Calcium and (B) Phosphorus, in late LSL-Lite laying hens fed varying levels of dietary arginine silicate inositol (ASI) from 65 to 81 wk of age. Data are presented as mean ± SEM from 10 replicates per treatment. ^a,bDifferent letters indicate significant differences within a timepoint at P ≤ 0.05.