Investigating the effect of flaxseed oil and fish oil on production performance, quality and enrichment of eggs in laying hens

Jafari, Hormoz; Moravej, Hossein; Hajarmanesh, Mehdi; Boromandnia, Zeinab

doi:10.22059/jap.2025.399647.623861

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

¹ Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran. E-mail: Hormoz.Jafari@ut.ac.ir

² Corresponding Author, Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran. E-mail: hmoraveg@ut.ac.ir

³ Department of Animal Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran. E-mail: omidhajarmanesh.m@gmail.com

⁴ Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran. E-mail: zboroumandnia@ut.ac.ir

10.22059/jap.2025.399647.623861

Abstract

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of different levels of flaxseed oil and fish oil on productive performance, egg quality, yolk fatty acid pattern, and egg enrichment in laying hens.
Method: Three hundred and twenty-four white Shaver laying hens, 65 weeks old, were randomly assigned to one of six dietary treatments in an 8-week trial using a completely randomized block design with repeated measures. Six dietary treatments were used:: treatment 1: control containing crude soybean oil and no source of flaxseed and fish oil; treatment 2: 1.5% flaxseed oil, treatment 3: 1.5% fish oil, treatment 4: 3% flaxseed oil, treatment 5: 3% fish oil and treatment 6: 1.5% flaxseed oil + 1.5% fish oil. The diets were based on corn and soybean meal and were formulated according to the nutritional requirements of Shaver layers in the late production phase.
Results: This study found that flaxseed oil and fish oil significantly affected egg weight, egg laying percentage and feed conversion ratio (FCR) (P<0.05), but did not affect egg mass and feed intake. Egg weight in the 1.5% fish oil treatment was higher than the 1.5% flaxseed oil + 1.5% fish oil treatment (P<0.05), but was not different from other treatments. Egg production in the 3% flaxseed oil treatment was higher than the control and 3% fish oil treatments (P<0.05), but not different from other treatments. The FCR was significantly higher than 1.5% flaxseed oil and 1.5% fish oil (P<0.05) but not different from the control and other experimental treatments. For egg quality traits, only Haugh unit was significantly affected by the experimental treatments. So that in the treatments with 1.5 and 3% flaxseed oil, the Haugh unit was higher than the 3% fish oil treatment (P<0.05); however, no significant difference was observed between other treatments. Yolk fatty acid profile analysis revealed a significant difference between experimental treatments. The 3% fish oil treatment had the highest sum of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) (182.14 mg/100 g of egg contents). whereas the 3% flaxseed oil treatment showed the highest level of alpha-linolenic acid (269.7 mg/100g egg) and the lowest ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids (P<0.05). The 1.5% fish oil treatment was the most cost-effective egg enrichment, elevating the level of EPA plus DHA by approximately 35% compared to the Iranian Veterinary Organization standard.
Conclusions: Overall, vegetable and animal sources of omega-3 did not have the same impact on laying hen egg performance and egg quality; however, flaxseed oil increased alpha-linolenic acid and improved internal egg quality, whereas fish oil, at 3%, produced the highest increase in yolk eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) concentration, with the lowest omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, which was appropriate for egg enrichment by EPA+DHA from an economic point of view.

Keywords

References

حسینی واشان، سید جواد؛ افضلی نظر، ملکانه محمد؛ ناصری، محمدعلی و رسانی، علی‌اله (1388) . غنی‌سازی زرده تخم‌مرغ با اسیدهای چرب امگا 3 بلند زنجیر بااستفاده از روغن ماهی کیلکا در جیره مرغ تخم‌گذار، مجله علوم و فنون کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی، 13 (47)، ۱۴۱-۱۳۱.

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Journal of Animal Production, Print ISSN: 2008-6776., Online ISSN: 2382-994X

Investigating the effect of flaxseed oil and fish oil on production performance, quality and enrichment of eggs in laying hens

References

References

References

Volume 27, Issue 4
January 2026
Pages 499-512

Investigating the effect of flaxseed oil and fish oil on production performance, quality and enrichment of eggs in laying hens

References

References

References

Volume 27, Issue 4January 2026Pages 499-512

Volume 27, Issue 4
January 2026
Pages 499-512