Dietary inclusion of Moringa oleifera: Impacts on egg production, egg quality with fatty acid, amino acid profiling and serum immunity of laying hens

This study evaluated the effects of dietary Moringa oleifera leaf powder (MLP) supplementation on performance, egg quality with fatty acid, amino acid profiles, and serum biochemical parameters in ISA-Brown hens. A 9-week feeding trial was conducted using 108 laying hens (21 weeks of age), which were randomly assigned to three dietary treatments with 36 birds per treatment. Each treatment included six replicates, with six birds per replicate. The treatments were: control (without MLP), T1 (0.5% MLP), and T2 (1.0% MLP). The 1.0% MLP group showed significantly higher egg weight, feed intake, and improved feed conversion ratio (P < 0.05) without affecting hen-day egg production or external egg quality traits. While total saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fatty acids were unaffected (P > 0.05), α-linolenic acid and total ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) tended to increase (P ≈ 0.07) at T2 group. Eggs from the T2 group had higher methionine, leucine, and histidine levels, along with elevated serum calcium, albumin, IgA, and IgG (P < 0.05), indicating improved nutritional value of eggs and higher immune function of laying hens. MLP supplementation at 1.0% can enhance egg nutritional quality and hen health without compromising productivity.