Enriching table eggs with omega-3 fatty acids by using ground flaxseed or a combination of flax cake and flaxseed oil in the diet of laying hens

The purpose of the study was to investigate the potential of feeding laying hens with ground flax, a combination of flax cake and flax oil in the production of eggs enriched with omega-3 fatty acids. The experiment was set up using 192 laying hens divided into 4 groups: the control group; a group fed with flaxseed cake (10%) + flaxseed oil (2%); a group fed with 5% ground flax, and a group fed with 10% ground flax. Each group had 8 cages housing 6 laying hens, that is, a total of 48 laying hens per group. The Haugh unit values, fat content, Thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) values, yolk color parameters and yolk fat content were measured at the end of 5th and 10th weeks of the trial. The results of this study showed that omega-3 enriched dietary treatments had an impact on the results obtained for the amount of total fat in the yolk, and the results of the TBARS test. The results presented show that the average amounts of alpha linoleic (ALA) and docosahexaenoic (DHA) fatty acids in egg yolk were influenced by the nutritional treatments, i.e. the laying hens that were fed with mixtures enriched with 5% and 10% ground flaxseed, as well as 10% flaxseed cake + 2% flaxseed oil, had significantly (P<0.05) higher amounts of ALA and DHA in their egg yolk compared to the laying hens in the control group.