Effect of Dietary Supplementation of Inorganic and Nano Chromium Particles on Production Performance and Egg Quality of Coloured Breeder Hens

Abstract

Summer conditions can adversely affect the production performance and egg quality of breeder hens, creating a need for nutritional strategies that support productivity during heat stress. Chromium plays an important role in carbohydrate, lipid and protein metabolism, while nano-sized chromium may offer greater bioavailability than conventional inorganic forms. However, comparative information on inorganic and nano chromium supplementation in coloured breeder hens during summer remains limited. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation with inorganic and nano chromium particles on the production performance and egg quality of coloured breeder hens during the summer season. Ninety coloured chicken breeder (Chabro) hens and eighteen viable cocks were randomly distributed among three treatment groups, with three replicates of 10 hens and 2 cocks each. The basal/control group (T1) was offered a standard breeder diet (Bureau of Indian Standards [BIS], 2007), while the other two treatment groups received diets supplemented with 0.5 mg/kg inorganic chromium (chromium chloride) (T2) and 0.5 mg/kg nano chromium particles (T3) for 12 weeks. There were no significant differences in weekly hen-house egg production (HHEP), hen-day egg production (HDEP), or FCR (on an egg-mass and per-dozen basis) among the treatment groups throughout the experiment. At the end of 12 weeks of experimental feeding, shell weight percentage and Haugh unit were significantly higher (P<0.05) in T2 than in T1. Thus, dietary supplementation with chromium chloride significantly increased shell weight percentage and Haugh unit in coloured breeder hens during the summer season.