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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Meta-analysis of the effect of probiotic-yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) intervention on feed intake, feed efficiency and egg-production indices in laying hens

I. P. Ogbuewu https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4895-7867 A B and C. A. Mbajiorgu A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, University of South Africa, Private Bag X6, Florida 1710, Johannesburg, South Africa.

B Corresponding author. Email: dr.ogbuewu@gmail.com

Animal Production Science - https://doi.org/10.1071/AN20192
Submitted: 26 March 2020  Accepted: 5 October 2020   Published online: 30 November 2020

Abstract

Context: Probiotics are attracting wide attention today as a non-antibiotic feed additive in layer feed, and the number of studies in this field is on the increase. However, the results of the effects of probiotic-yeast supplementation on egg-production indices in laying hens are contradictory.

Aim: Therefore, the aim of the present study was to use meta-analytical methods to ascertain whether yeast-based diets improve feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), hen-day egg production (HDEP), egg mass (EM), egg weight (EW), Haugh unit (HU) and eggshell thickness (EST) in laying hens.

Methods: A search of four electronic databases for studies on the impact of yeast supplementation on egg-production indices published in English using a combination of search terms yielded 164 studies. Sixteen research publications with 20 771 laying hens met the criteria for inclusion in the meta-analysis. Data were pooled via random-effects model and are presented as standardised mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) for each effect size.

Key results: HDEP and EM showed a significant increase in the SMD of 11.3% (95% CI: 0.037–0.118, P = 0.003) and 22.5 g egg/hen.day (95% CI: 0.095–0.356, P < 0.001) respectively. Subgroup analysis showed that EST, EM, HDEP and FCR were improved in laying hens that received a yeast-based diet at <5 g/kg feed, compared with the group that received a yeast-based diet at >5 g/kg feed. The results indicated that trial country was a predictor of FI, FCR, EM, HDEP and EST in layers fed yeast-based rations.

Conclusion: These results suggest that feeding probiotic-yeast at <5 g/kg feed improved FCR, HDEP and EM in laying hens.

Implications: The results of the present meta-analysis will help poultry nutritionists develop the guidelines for standardising the experimental designs of future experiments on the use of probiotic yeast to enhance the productivity of laying hens.

Keywords: forest plot, publication bias, subgroup analysis.


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