Table 8.

Effect of low dietary soluble non-starch polysaccharide (sNSP) level and xylanase supplementation on egg quality, measured after hens were fed the dietary treatments for 0, 28 or 56 d.

Item	Low sNSP without xylanase			SEM	P-value	Low sNSP with xylanase			SEM	P-value
	0 d	28 d	56 d			0 d	28 d	56 d
Egg weight, g	59.57b	61.25ab	63.11a	2.38	0.016	57.48b	61.21a	62.11a	2.02	<0.001
Breaking strength, N	50.90a	47.51ab	46.81b	3.27	0.042	50.21	50.64	48.10	2.84	0.154
Shell deformation, nm	0.294	0.292	0.289	0.01	0.724	0.302	0.301	0.290	0.01	0.233
Albumen height, mm	11.05a	10.91ab	10.48b	0.43	0.014	10.98a	10.90a	10.36b	0.43	0.011
Haugh unit	104.1a	102.8ab	100.9b	1.69	<0.001	103.8a	102.8a	100.6b	1.72	<0.001
Yolk colour score	9.61b	11.42a	11.80a	0.52	<0.001	9.53b	11.87a	12.06a	0.49	<0.001
Yolk weight, g	13.36c	14.56b	15.36a	0.55	<0.001	12.87b	14.54a	14.77a	0.52	<0.001
Shell weight, g	6.112	5.953	6.034	0.20	0.288	6.052	6.063	6.026	0.15	0.884
Shell thickness, mm	0.443	0.436	0.430	0.01	0.348	0.422b	0.440a	0.436a	0.01	0.001
Shell reflectivity, %	22.67	23.70	23.18	1.40	0.332	22.66	22.72	22.94	1.39	0.912

^a,b Means with no common superscript within a row and within a section differ significantly (P < 0.05).