Effects of using different levels of Chicory) Cichorium intybus L.) powder on performance, egg traits, blood biochemical parameters and immunity cells in laying hens

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of using different levels of Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) powder on performance, egg traits and blood metabolites of laying hens. The levels of Chicory were 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, and 2 percent. In this experiment, 180 laying hens (Hy-line W36 strain) in five treatments and three replicates (with 12 hens in each replicate) from 65 until 76 weeks of age were used in a completely randomized design. The results showed that the using different levels of Chicory powder had significant effects on performance, egg traits, and immunity cells of blood in laying hens (P<0.05). The highest egg production percentage, highest amounts of egg mass, daily feed intake, the best feed conversion ratio, the lowest amount of feed price for production per kilogram of egg, the highest yolk color index and the highest albumin percentage were resulted by using 2% of Chicory powder. The lowest percentage of white blood cells, heterophil, and heterophil/lymphocyte and the highest percentage of lymphocyte were obtained by the use of 1.5% of Chicory powder. Different levels of Chicory powder did not have any significant effects on blood biochemical parameters of laying hens. It was concluded that in laying hens diets, using 1.5 of Chicory powder can improve their immunity cells status, performance, and egg traits.