A meta-analysis on the effect of canthaxanthin on egg production in brown egg layers.

A meta-analysis was conducted to evaluate the effect of the carotenoid canthaxanthin on production performance in layer hens. The data set contained 576 performance measurements from 34 trials. The trials were all conducted according to a similar experimental protocol from 1997 to 2012. The age of the animals ranged from 21 to 65 weeks. The experimental diets were predominantly wheat/SBM based, fed in mash form ad libitum. Depending on the trial and the treatment group considered, canthaxanthin supplementation was in the range of 0 to 8 mg/kg of feed.