Scent Leaf Meal (Ocimum gratissimum) Improved the Performance and Egg Quality of Laying Hens Post Peak Production

Extending the laying period of hens to achieve prolonged egg-laying with consistent egg quality is one promising approach to mitigate the constraint of replacing old birds. Some herbs and their essential oils have been reported to positively impact egg production and quality in laying hens. This study evaluated the effect of scent leaf meal (SLM; Ocimum gratissimum) on the productive performance and egg quality of laying hens at advanced stage of production. The experiment was conducted at the poultry unit of Kabba College of Agriculture in Kogi State, Nigeria. A total of eighty (80) layers aged sixty (60) weeks and 280 days in lay were used in the completely randomized design study, in which birds were randomly allocated to four treatment groups of twenty birds per group, with five birds in a group serving as a replicate. The dietary treatments consisted of commercial layer mash as basal diet, supplemented with scent leaf (Ocimum gratissimum) meal as an additive at the rate of 0%, 1%, 2% and 3%. The experiment lasted for 6 weeks. Scent leaf meal significantly improved body weight, percentage egg production, net feed efficiency index (NFEI), feed conversion ratio and egg:feed price ratio (EFPR) with increasing level of SLM in the diet, peaking at 3%. Similarly, egg weight, albumen weight, yolk weight, albumen height and shell thickness were improved with inclusion level of SLM in the diet. Treatment had no significant effect on shell weight, shape index and Haugh units. This study shows that dietary supplementation with scent leaf meal at levels up to 3% significantly improved performance and egg quality of old laying hens. Further studies are needed to explore the sustainability of SLM as feed additive in commercial poultry outfits.