Zinc iron and copper contents of eggs from hens fed varying levels of zinc
Stahl, J.L.; Cook, M.E.; Greger, J.L.
Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 1(4): 309-315
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0889-1575 DOI: 10.1016/0889-1575(88)90030-0
Accession: 008009591
We wanted to determine whether eggs which contained more zinc could be produced by fortifying the diets of hens with zinc. In two studies, hens fed very high levels of zinc (1762 or 1861 .mu.g Zn/g diet) for 4 to 40 weeks produced eggs that contained 57-90% more zinc than eggs produced by hens fed control diets (28 or 26 .mu.g Zn/g diet). Hens fed high levels of zinc (218 or 257 .mu.g Zn/g diet) produced eggs that contained as much as 25% more zinc than eggs produced by hens fed control diets. Ingestion of excess zinc did not have consistent effects on the iron or copper content of eggs or on the zinc content of eggshells.