The Effects of Different Levels Aqueous Extract of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) on Performance and Immune Response of Laying Hens

In order to gain a better understanding of their performance and immunity system of laying hens, the present study was carried out to determine the effects of different levels aqueous extract of Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) on production performance and immune response of laying hens. A total number of 240 white Lohman LSL-Lite laying hens at 65 weeks of age were used in this experiment. Four levels of Fenugreek extract including zero (T1), 5ml (T2), 10ml (T3) and 15ml (T4) per liter of drinking water with 6 replicates (n=10) were used during 6-week trial period. The hens performance including hen-day egg production %, feed intake, egg mass (g/hen/day), and feed conversion ratio (g feed: g egg) were measured. Antibody production against sheep red blood cells also was measured. The GLM procedure of SAS software was used for data analysis and differences among treatment means determined using the Duncan's multiplerange test. The findings of this study demonstrated that the inclusion of Fenugreek extract had a significant effect on production performance of laying hens (P<0.05). In addition, Fenugreek extract to the drinking water improved immune response of laying hens and a more positive effect was observed when 15ml/l added to the water. From the results of the present experiment it could be concluded that utilization of Fenugreek extract to the drinking water were effective for improving the production performance and immune system of laying hens.