Feeding Laying Hens a Diet Containing High-Oleic Peanuts or Oleic Acid Enriches Yolk Color and Beta-Carotene While Reducing the Saturated Fatty Acid Content in Eggs

We investigated the dietary effects of high-oleic peanuts (HOPN) or oleic fatty acids (OA) on older production hen performance, egg mass and quality, and lipid composition. A total of 99 laying hens were divided between three treatments and fed ad libitum for 8 weeks: (1) Conventional diet; (2) HOPN diet; (3) OA diet. Body weight (BW) was measured at weeks 1 and 8, and feed, egg weights (EW), and egg quality parameters were collected. Data was analyzed by analysis of variance at p < 0.05 significance level. There were no treatment differences in 8 week BW, feed conversion ratio, or average weekly egg quality parameters. The 8 week average EW of eggs from the HOPN group had reduced EW relative to the other treatment groups (p = 0.0004). The 8-week average yolk color score (p < 0.0001) was greater in eggs from the HOPN group relative to the other treatments. Overall, the β-carotene (p < 0.006) and OA content (p < 0.0001) was greater in eggs from the HOPN group, with reduced saturated fats in eggs from the HOPN group relative to the other treatments. These results suggest that HOPN and/or OA may be a useful layer feed ingredient to enrich eggs, while significantly reducing egg size in older production hens.