Effects of Dietary Oregano Essential Oil Supplementation on Performance and Eggshell Quality in Laying Hens

This study evaluated the effects of oregano essential oil on performance andegg quality parameters of laying hens. A total of 144 fourty-week-old H&NSuper Nick laying hens were assigned to the basal control diet supplementedwith 50, 100, 150, 200 and 250 mg/kg of oregano essential oil (6 treatmentdiets, 8 replicates, each replicate consists of 3 hens). Hens were fed experimental diets from 40 to 52 weeks of age. Water and diets were supplied adlibitum throughout the experiment. After 12 week of experiment, feed intake,egg production, feed conversion ratio, egg weight, egg mass did not differamong the treatment groups. Different application rate of oregano oil had noeffects on eggshell ratio, eggshell thickness and eggshell breaking strength.The results of this study demonstrated that addition oregano essential oil to thediets had no effect on performance and eggshell quality parameters of layinghens at 40 to 52 weeks of age.