Effect of dietary garlic powder on layer performance, fecal bacterial load, and egg quality.

This study was conducted to investigate the potential of garlic powder (GP) in improving production efficiency, egg quality, and gut health of laying hens. A total of seventy-two 30-wk-old Dekalb white strain hens were used. The live weight of the hens ranged between 1.71 and 2.12 kg. Hens were randomly allotted into 3 dietary treatment groups in a complete randomized design experiment. The 3 dietary treatments were control (no garlic addition) and 3 and 5% GP additions to a basal diet on weight:weight ratio basis. Egg production and feed consumption were recorded daily, and hen BW and internal quality of fresh eggs were assessed weekly. Fecal samples were assessed for total bacterial load. The results from this study revealed significant (P < 0.05) increases of 0.81 mm in albumen height and 2.71 Haugh units of fresh eggs at 3% GP addition. Egg and albumen weights increased significantly (P < 0.05) by 2.06 and 1.84 g, respectively, at 5% GP over the control treatment. Egg production decreased significantly at 5% GP following a decrease in feed consumption. Similarly, log bacterial count in feces showed a dose-dependent reduction as dietary GP increased. Organoleptic evaluation of eggs from treatment birds revealed a strong garlic flavor in eggs from 5% GP group compared with the control and 3% GP groups. Results of this study suggest that dietary GP improved egg weight and albumen quality with a strong garlic flavor at high dietary levels.