EFFECT OF FEEDING A PEAT FEED ADDITIVE ON THE PERFORMANCE OF LAYING HENS

Poultry farming represents a significant sector of agriculture, playing a crucial role in ensuring high-quality produce while efficiently utilizing feed resources. The industrial development of this sector aims to achieve high yields in egg and meat production through the utilization of high-productivity poultry hybrids. The success of this approach largely depends on providing poultry with optimal feed rations that consider their physiological needs and biological characteristics. Adequate feeding plays a crucial role in achieving maximum productivity and product quality. Therefore, the development and implementation of scientifically-based approaches to poultry feeding are important strategic tasks for further poultry farming development. In this research, the influence of adding peat to the diet on the productivity and quality of eggs from laying hens was studied. The experiment was conducted on an industrial poultry farm with Hy-Line Brown W-36 laying hens. Our study has revealed that the use of a peat-based feed additive in the diet of laying hens has a positive impact on various productivity aspects, such as poultry live weight, viability, and egg-laying frequency. The application of peat-based feed meal, ranging from 0.5 to 1.25 kg per ton of feed for laying hens, resulted in increased egg mass compared to the control group: egg mass in Experimental Group 1 increased by 2.60%, in Experimental Group 2 by 2.90%, in Experimental Group 3 by 3.18%, and in Experimental Group 4 by 1.41% (P≤0.95). Thus, the utilization of peat-based feed meal demonstrated a positive impact on poultry live weight, viability, egg mass, and overall egg production yield.