Desempenho produtivo e qualidade dos ovos de poedeiras alimentadas com dietas suplementadas com pigmentantes naturias e sintéticos

The use of pigments in sorghum-based commercial poultry rations is carried out in order to improve egg pigmentation, being an important tool to adjust the similar and / or superior staining when using maize-based rations. The use of pigments is mainly used when using alternative raw materials (sorghum, wheat, millet, oats, etc.) seeking to reconstitute the level of xanthophylls normally found in basal corn rations. The present work had as main objective to evaluate different levels of supplementation of a Marigold - based natural yellow pigment in sorghum - based feed for commercial laying hens. A completely randomized design with 5 treatments and 5 replicates was adopted. Each replicate consisted of 5 birds characterizing each experimental plot (cage). Four internal, external and egg quality evaluations were performed. The evaluated treatments were: Exp. Evaluation of the Wisdem Golden Yellow Pigment Y-20 (Marigold 2%), T1 - Sorghum-Based Ration - Negative Control; T2 - T1 + 150 g / t Pigment Natural Yellow; T3 - T1 + 300 g / t Natural Pigment Yellow; T4 - T1 + 450 g / t Natural Pigment Yellow; T5 - T1 + 25 g / t Industrial Pigment Yellow (Carophyll Yellow 10%). The variables of external quality, internal variables and performance did not obtain significant results. Only the color variable of the yolk obtained significance by the Tukey test (P <0.01), where the increase of the color of the yolk was reflected according to the increase of the levels of pigmentante. It is concluded that the supplementation of the diet with natural or synthetic pigmenters does not interfere in the performance of the birds nor in the internal and external quality of the eggs, except for the coloring of the yolk. It is recommended to supplement 450g / ton of yellow natural pigment in order to obtain a better coloring of the yolk in sorghum-based diets.