The effect of four levels of dietary vitamin K (vit. K) on production, egg quality and bone structure of laying hens near the end of the production cycle were studied. A total of 192 Hy-Line, W-36 hens, 67 weeks of age, were distributed into a completely randomized design with four treatments (0, 2, 8, 32 mg vit. K/kg of diet), six replicates and eight birds per experimental unit. Corn-soybean-meal basal diets were isonitrogenous (15.5% crude protein), isoenergetic (2,790 kcal ME/kg), isocalcium (4.25% Ca) and isophosphorus (0.40% available P). Vitamin K supplementation did not alter egg mass, feed intake, feed conversion (kg/kg), bone breaking strength, specific egg gravity, eggshell weight, thickness and percentage of thin and cracked shell. A linear... |