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Effect of Dietary Supplemental Zinc on Laying Performance, Egg Quality, and Plasma Hormone Levels of Breeding Pigeons

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Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the dietary zinc requirement of parental pigeons for better laying and reproductive performance, egg quality, sex hormones, and mineral content in eggs. A total of 160 pairs of healthy American Silver King pigeons were randomly assigned to five treatments of eight replicate cages each with four pairs of birds per cage, and fed a basal diet without zinc supplementation or the basal diet supplemented with 30, 60, 90, and 120 mg of zinc/kg (ZnSO4·7H2O). The experiment lasted for 45 days, including two laying cycles. Results indicated the egg production rate (P = 0.081), egg shape index (P = 0.038), egg eggshell percentage (P = 0.070), and zinc and calcium contents (P < 0.01) tended to be affected or significantly affected by zinc addition. They increased quadratically with dietary zinc levels (P < 0.05). Besides, shell thickness (P = 0.069), plasma testosterone (P = 0.008), LH, and carbonic anhydrase contents (P < 0.05) tended to be affected or significantly affected by zinc addition. They increased linearly as dietary zinc level increased (P < 0.05). Compared with the control, 60 mg/kg zinc addition increased egg production rate, egg shape index, zinc and calcium contents in eggshell, and plasma testosterone concentration in pigeons (P < 0.05), and tended to increase the eggshell percentage (P = 0.07). Besides, supplemental 120 mg/kg zinc had higher shell thickness and LH content than control (P < 0.05), but had no difference with 60 mg/kg zinc addition. In conclusion, the supplementation of zinc at the level of 60 mg/kg to basal diet improved laying performance by increasing eggshell quality and sex hormone levels of breeding pigeons.

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Data Availability

The data of this study will be made available on reasonable request.

The study was carried out in accordance with the guidelines set by the Animal Care and Use Committee (permit number: SYXK-2017–0005) of the Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences (IAHVM-BAAFS), Beijing, China. The protocols were approved by the Animal Care and Use Committee of IAHVM-BAAFS.

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Funding

This study was supported by the Reform and development project of Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Science under grant number XMSSYJJ202204 and the Innovation capacity building project of Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Science under grant number: KJCX 20200404.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine, Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Beijing, 100097, China

    Yuxin Shao, Xing Li, Shaohua Du, Xiaoshan Sun, Yangyang Wang, Dongdong Zhao & Zheng Wang

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  1. Yuxin Shao
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  2. Xing Li
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  3. Shaohua Du
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  4. Xiaoshan Sun
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  5. Yangyang Wang
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  6. Dongdong Zhao
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  7. Zheng Wang
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Contributions

Yuxin Shao analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript. Xing Li and Shaohua Du carried out the animal experiments. Xiaoshan Sun collected the sample and material. Yangyang Wang and Dongdong Zhao prepared all the tables. Zheng Wang designed and supervised the experiment. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zheng Wang.

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Shao, Y., Li, X., Du, S. et al. Effect of Dietary Supplemental Zinc on Laying Performance, Egg Quality, and Plasma Hormone Levels of Breeding Pigeons. Biol Trace Elem Res 201, 2991–2999 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-022-03402-4

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