Assessment on the effect of Lignin as a feed additive for lohmann brown egg layer chickens: a case study at Neudamm farm, University of Namibia.

Abstract

Namibian environmental conditions. A total of 871 chickens (482 experimental and 489 control groups), weighing an average mass of 2 kg/head, were subjected to an experiment under Neudamm Campus (UNAM) environmental conditions (32 C average temperature and 22% relative humidity). All chickens were fed with ordinary balanced ration earmarked for egg layers for 8 days and subjected to stress for 10 minutes per day. The experimental group was given purified lignin (Lignohumate KD) 60 mg/kg diluted in a litter of drinking water, as an anti-stressor feed additive and metabolic activity stimulator. Results of this study revealed an increase in egg production, reduction in feed intake, resistance to stress, and production of eggs of bigger sizes (graded as Extra-large), with strong shells as compared to those produced by the control group. At a certain stage, some chickens from the experimental group were unable to release eggs freely, a fact possibly related to egg size and possible deficient lubrication of cloacal environment. Studies are ongoing with the objective of identifying accurate amounts of lignin/kg necessary to feed egg-layer chickens for triggering an improvement of egg quality under Namibian environmental conditions, without affecting the bird’s physiology and health.