The Effects of Calcidiol and Betaglucan as Feed Additives on the Performance and Physiological Parameters of Laying Hens

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of adding a combination of calcidiol and betaglucan to feed on the production performance of laying hens aged 0–21 days, immune organ morphometry, and blood hematology of laying hens aged 12 weeks. The study used 500 Day-Old Chicks (DOC) of the Hy-Line Brown strain, divided into two treatments. The data obtained were analyzed using the Independent T-Test and descriptively for variables related to body weight uniformity and mortality. Treatment T0 = basal feed (control), T1 = basal feed supplemented with calcidiol 5.000 IU/kg and betaglucan 40mg/kg in the feed. The results showed that the addition of a combination of calcidiol and betaglucan had a significant effect (P < 0.01) on increasing feed efficiency in group T1 during the third week, resulting in a 21.51% improvement in feed conversion and bone marrow density at 12 weeks of age. The treatment did not have a significant effect (P > 0.05) on spleen and bursa morphometry, blood hematology, IgG, and IgM levels. Descriptively, the addition of Calcidiol-Betaglucan had a better effect on body weight uniformity, which was 3.84% higher than the control, and total mortality, which was 0.49% lower in T1 than in T0. The conclusion of this study is that the addition of the combination of calcidiol and betaglucan has potential as a functional feed additive to support early growth efficiency and immune system readiness in laying hens.