The Potential of Pure Chitosan in Increasing Eggshell Thickness Silver Arabic Chicken (Silver brakel kriel)

Abstract

The quality of chicken eggs is greatly influenced by the nutrient ration consumed. Chitosan is a crustacean waste product that is biodegradable and anti-germ so it is suitable to be given to poultry. The purpose of this study was to see the effect of chitosan on the external quality of chicken eggs. The study used a completely randomized design (CRD) with 6 treatments and 5 replications, each replication consisting of 2 Arab chickens aged 4.5 months. The study was conducted for 7 weeks. The treatments given were: R0 (control ration without chitosan), R1 (ration + chitosan 0.5%), R2 (ration + chitosan 1%), R3 (ration + chitosan 1.5%), R4 (ration + chitosan 2%), R5 (ration + chitosan 2.5%). The results showed that chitosan had the potential to improve the external quality of eggs. The dose of chitosan 1.5% in the ration was significantly higher (P <0.05), increasing the thickness of the eggshell of all treatments, while the egg index and egg weight still showed the same value (P> 0.05). The conclusion of this study was that the dose of 1.5% chitosan in the ration had a shell thickness 32.56% higher than the control.