Superiority of coarse eggshell as a calcium source over limestone, cockle shell, oyster shell, and fine eggshell in old laying hens

• Published in: Scientific reports 2021-06, Vol.11 (1), p.13225-10, Article 13225
• Main Authors: Lee, Woo-Do, Kothari, Damini, Niu, Kai-Min, Lim, Jeong-Min, Park, Da-Hye, Ko, Jaeeun, Eom, Kidong, Kim, Soo-Ki
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 631/45; 631/601; Albumen; Animal Feed; Animals; Blood; Bone mineral density; Calcium (dietary); Calcium - metabolism; Calcium carbonate; Calcium Carbonate - metabolism; Calcium, Dietary - metabolism; Cardiidae - metabolism; Chickens - metabolism; Diet; Dietary Supplements; Eating - physiology; Egg production; Egg Shell - metabolism; Egg shells; Eggs; Feed conversion; High density lipoprotein; Humanities and Social Sciences; Limestone; multidisciplinary; Ostreidae - metabolism; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Soybeans; Tibia; Tibia - metabolism
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-92589-y

Chicken eggshell (ES) waste is a rich source of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3 ); however, the potential of ES as dietary calcium (Ca) in old laying hens has not been explored. This study compared the effects of feeding limestone, cockle shell, oyster shell, fine ES, and coarse ES as the sole Ca source on production performance, egg quality, blood biochemical constituents, and tibia characteristics in old laying hens. A total of 450 ISA-Brown laying hens at 73 wk of age with similar egg production rate (EPR) were randomly assigned to 5 treatment groups (90 hens/group, 9 hens/replicate) for 7 wk. Dietary treatment groups comprised a corn-soybean meal based diet containing different Ca sources: (i) limestone (LS;