Table 4.

Laying hen performance¹ from 25 to 33 wk of age as affected by increasing dietary inclusion of flaxseed oil (FSO) or milled flaxseed (MFS).²

	Feed intake		HHEP		FE		Egg weight		Egg mass		Egg solids		BW change
	(g/bird/d)		(%)		(g eggs/kg feed)		(g/egg)		(g/bird/d)		(%)		(g)
Oil (%)	FSO	MFS	FSO	MFS	FSO	MFS	FSO	MFS	FSO	MFS	FSO	MFS	FSO	MFS
Control 0.0	93.5		95.8		600		57.6		55.3		23.6		75.1
0.5	92.3	92.9	91.4	98.3	583	640	58.7	59.4	53.8	58.4	23.3	23.5	54.8	79.2
1.0	94.4	93.1	96.9	96.6	597	603	58.0	57.9	56.2	56.0	23.5	23.4	78.6	74.8
2.0	93.8	92.7	98.3	97.7	586	606	55.8	57.3	54.9	56.1	23.7	23.6	80.5	38.1
3.0	94.5	93.1	96.4	95.1	593	589	57.7	57.5	55.8	54.7	23.4	23.5	77.2	58.8
5.0	90.8	93.8	96.2	96.9	602	591	56.4	57.2	54.3	55.5	23.0	23.5	61.1	24.2
SEM	1.59		1.23		11.5		0.98		1.05		0.22		11.71
Contrast P-values
Control vs. Flax	0.82		0.67		0.93		1.00		0.78		0.64		0.32
FSO vs. MFS	0.97		0.18		0.07		0.39		0.10		0.53		0.04
Linear
Oil %	0.69		0.58		0.24		0.05		0.17		0.49		0.02
Oil % × Flax	0.33		0.09		0.01		0.94		0.30		0.26		0.02
Quadratic
Oil %	0.37		0.24		0.17		0.23		0.77		0.19		0.37
Oil % × Flax	0.20		0.01		0.29		0.92		0.07		0.28		0.14
Cubic
Oil %	0.94		0.03		0.78		0.13		0.97		0.43		0.73
Oil % × Flax	0.94		0.15		0.46		0.64		0.61		0.67		0.12

¹Performance parameters measured were feed intake, hen-housed egg production (HHEP), feed efficiency (FE), egg weight (g/egg), egg mass (g/bird/d), egg solids 4, 6, and 8 wk average (%), and body weight (BW) change from 25 to 33 wk of age.

²Hens were fed a control diet or one of the following omega-3 fatty acid enriched diets: Purified flaxseed oil (FSO) treatments containing 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, or 5.0% FSO content, or milled flaxseed (MFS) treatments containing 0.5, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, or 5.0% FSO concentration (MFS included at 1.5, 3.0, 6.0, 9.0, or 15.0% of the diet, respectively).