Table 2.
Effect of spirulina on hens’ live weight changes and laying performances.
| Treatment | SEM & | p-value | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C α | D1 α | D2 α | Trt β | W β | Trt * W β | ||
| LW change, (g/42 days) | −56.00 ± 101.05 | −19.33 ± 120.9 | −30.00 ± 139.01 | 31.30 | NS | − | − |
| Feed intake, g DM/hen/day | 105.11 ± 3.89 | 106.79 ± 0.71 | 105.43 ± 4.09 | 0.66 | NS | NS | NS |
| Feed Refusal, g DM/hen/day | 3.65 ± 3.89 | 2.88 ± 0.71 | 3.44 ± 4.09 | 0.66 | NS | NS | NS |
| Laying rate, % | 96.38 ± 4.18 | 94.67 ± 4.19 | 92.19 ± 9.41 | 1.28 | NS | NS | NS |
| Egg weight, g | 62.76 b ± 1.53 | 63.18b ± 1.47 | 64.33a ± 1.83 | 0.32 | * | NS | NS |
| Egg mass, g/hen/day | 60.47 ± 2.57 | 59.80 ± 2.83 | 59.34 ± 6.58 | 0.88 | NS | NS | NS |
| Feed conversion ratio | 1.74 ± 0.089 | 1.78 ± 0.082 | 1.79 ± 0.23 | 0.03 | NS | NS | NS |
αC = control diet with 0% of spirulina; α D1 = control diet supplemented with 1.5% of spirulina; α D2 = control diet supplemented with 2.5% of spirulina; and SEM = standard error of the mean; β trt = treatment; β W = week; β trt * W = treatment – week interaction; * = p < 0.05; NS = p ≥ 0.05; ab: Mean in the same row with different superscripts are significantly different (p < 0.05).