S. GRIGOROVA, S. SURDJIISKA, D. STOYANOV and M. DIMITROVA
Institute of Animal Science, BG-2230 Kostinbrod, Bulgaria
GRIGOROVA, S., S. SURDJIISKA, D. STOYANOV and M. DIMITROVA, 2004. Influence of probiotic "Lactina" on the productivity of layers. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., 10: 637-642
Two experiments were carried out with 288 layers from the hybrid combination Bovans Braun at the beginning of the lying period and at the age of the birds - 80 weeks, after a period of moulting. The influence of probiotic “Lactina” on the productivity and the quality of eggs were investigated during periods of 12 and 10 weeks for the first and the second experiment respectively.
“Lactina” consists of lyophilized pure cultures of Lb. bulgaricus, Lb. acidophilus, Lb. helveticus, Lb. lactis, Str. thermophilus and Ec. faecium with total number of cells 1x108/g.
The influence of the product on the cholesterol content and the fatty acid composition was also studied.
The supplementation of the probiotic in amount 500 g/t to the diet of the laying hens in the first phase of the laying period increased significantly the laying capacity of the birds with 3.8 % and decreased the feed consumption per egg with 7.5 %.
The addition of the same dose of the probiotic "Lactina" to the mixture for layers at the age of 80 weeks after a period of moulting did not affect the laying characteristics of the hens but reduced the feed consumption per egg with 3.6 % and the broken and cracked eggs after hand gathering from 0.87% to 0.57%.
Probiotic "Lactina" did not change the cholesterol content in the yolk and the fatty acid composition.