Table 3.

Effects of dietary Bacillus subtilis supplementation and dietary Ca levels on performance of laying hens (72–79 wk of age).¹

Items		Egg production (%)	Egg weight (g)	ADFI (g)	FCR2
Ca level (%)	B. subtilis level (CFU/kg)
3.5	0	87.88	65.39	125.15	2.18
	2 × 109	89.86	65.83	122.89	2.05
4	0	88.82	66.08	124.40	2.13
	2 × 109	89.52	66.24	125.10	2.09
4.5	0	89.95	66.16	127.39	2.15
	2 × 109	89.12	66.22	124.92	2.09
SEM		0.37	0.11	0.40	0.01
Means of main effects
Ca level (%)
3.5		88.87	65.61	124.02	2.13
4		89.17	66.16	124.75	2.11
4.5		89.53	66.19	126.16	2.12
B. subtilis level (CFU/kg)
0		88.88	65.85	125.65	2.15b
2 × 109		89.50	66.10	124.30	2.08a
P-value
Ca level		0.718	0.051	0.081	0.849
B. subtilis level		0.356	0.275	0.091	0.001
Ca level × B. subtilis level		0.330	0.757	0.157	0.139

^a,bMeans assigned different superscripts within a factor of analysis (Ca level, B. subtilis level, and their interactions) differ, P < 0.05.

¹Data are the mean of 8 replicates with 12 birds each.

²FCR, feed conversion ratio (feed:egg, g:g).