Abstract This study was conducted to determine the effects of diet supplementation of laying hens with Ligustrum lucidum (LL) on egg production, egg quality and caecal microbiota. A total of 360 72-week-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens were divided into three groups with four replicates of 30 birds each. The laying hens were fed with basal diet (control group), basal diet + 1% LL (group I) and basal diet + 2% LL (group II). The experiment lasted for 45 d. Eggs were collected daily and caecal samples were collected at the end of the experiment. Results showed that dietary supplementation with LL did not affect the average daily egg weight, the average daily feed intake, the cracked egg rate, the mortality and the egg quality (p>.05). However, groups I and II showed significantly increased laying rate and decreased feed/egg ratio (p＜.05). The differences in caecal microbiota between group II and the control group were significant. The relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, Saccharibacteria and Verrucomicrobia at the phylum level; Ruminococcaceae, Rikenellaceae, Acidaminococcaceae, unclassified_Bacteroidales, S24-7 group and ODP1230B8.23 at the family level; RC9 gut group, Phascolarctobacterium, unclassified_Bacteroidales, Butyricicoccus, norank_f__Ruminococcaceae, Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014, coprostanoligenes group and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005 at the genus level in group II changed significantly compared with that in the control group (p＜.05). Dietary supplementation with 1% and 2% LL could improve the laying performance and affect the caecal microbial community structure of laying hens during the late laying period. Highlights Dietary supplementations with Ligustrum lucidum significantly increased laying performance of hens during the late laying period. Dietary supplementations with Ligustrum lucidum not affected the egg quality of laying hens. Dietary supplementations with Ligustrum lucidum affected the microbial structure of caecum of laying hens.

中文翻译：

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女贞子对产蛋后期母鸡产蛋量、蛋品质及盲肠微生物群的影响

摘要 本研究旨在确定在蛋鸡日粮中添加女贞子 (LL) 对产蛋量、产蛋质量和盲肠微生物群的影响。总共 360 只 72 周龄的 Hy-Line Brown 蛋鸡被分成三组，每组 30 只鸡，重复四次。蛋鸡饲喂基础日粮（对照组）、基础日粮+ 1% LL（组I）和基础日粮+ 2% LL（组II）。实验持续45 d。每天收集卵，并在实验结束时收集盲肠样本。结果表明，日粮中添加 LL 不影响平均日蛋重、平均日采食量、破蛋率、死亡率和鸡蛋质量（p>.05）。然而，I组和II组的产蛋率显着增加，料/蛋比降低（p＜0.05）。II组和对照组之间盲肠微生物群的差异是显着的。拟杆菌门、厚壁菌门、糖杆菌门和疣微菌门在门水平上的相对丰度；Ruminococcaceae、Rikenellaceae、Acidaminococcaceae、未分类_Bacteroidales、S24-7 组和科水平的ODP1230B8.23；RC9肠道组、Phascolarctobacterium、unclassified_Bacteroidales、Butyricicoccus、norank_f__Ruminococcaceae、Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014、coprostanoligenes组和Ruminococcaceae_UCG-005在属水平上II组与对照组相比发生显着变化（与对照组相比＜05.5）。日粮添加1%和2%的LL可以提高蛋鸡产蛋后期的产蛋性能，影响蛋鸡盲肠微生物群落结构。亮点 在日粮中添加女贞子可显着提高母鸡产蛋后期的产蛋性能。女贞子的膳食补充剂不会影响蛋鸡的鸡蛋质量。日粮中添加女贞子会影响蛋鸡盲肠的微生物结构。