ABSTRACT:This study was carried out to investigate the effect of different body weight groups (light (L) = 1 400-1 500; medium (M) = 1 500-1 600 and heavy (H) = 1 600 < g) on performance and egg quality traits of Lohmann hens, 24 weeks of age, in different laying periods. A total of 288 Lohmann White layers were allocated randomly to three groups with respect to live weight, each consisting of 24 replicated cages as subgroups, comprising four hens. The study period lasting for 60 weeks was investigated as four different age periods (first period = 24-40 weeks; second period = 40-54 weeks; third period = 54-68 weeks; fourth period = 68-84 weeks). Differences in the initial live weight at the beginning of experiment among the groups continued to the end of experimental period. Considering the egg production, differences among the groups were not significant (P > 0.05) during the experimental period. Egg weight was determined to be lower in the group with low body weight (64.58 g) than in medium (64.97 g) and heavy hen groups (66.30 g). Differences in feed intake and feed conversion ratio among the groups were found significant, and the mean values were 123.93, 127.48 and 130.67 for feed consumption (g/day); 2.23, 2.28 and 2.27 for feed conversion ratio. Except for the feed conversion ratio, the effect of weight groups by age period interaction on performance parameters was significant (P < 0.01). The effects of body weight on shell strength, shell thickness and yolk index were not significant during the experimental period. However, different body weight groups significantly affected shape index, yolk colour, albumen index and Haugh unit parameters. Shell strength, yolk colour and yolk index values were affected by weight groups by age period interaction. In conclusion, Lohmann White hens in the light group in a uniform flock had higher egg production and lower feed conversion ratio values than those of other weight groups.

This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of cage density (CD) and humate supplementation (HS) on laying performance, metabolic profile, and egg quality during the peak production period in hens. Lohman layers (n = 180, 46 wks of age) were blocked according to the location of cages and then allocated randomly to two levels of CD (4 or 6 hens per cage or 540 vs. 360 cm 2 /hen) and three levels of HS (0, 0.15, and 0.30%). Egg production (EP) and feed consumption (FC) were measured daily; egg weight was measured bi-weekly; and BW was measured before and after the experiment. Blood and additional egg samples were obtained at the end of the experiment for determination of metabolic profile and egg quality. The data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA as repeated measures. Except for FC, CD did not affect laying performance parameters. Hens placed in high-density cages had lower FC than hens placed in normal-density cages. Increasing HS level linearly increased FC, EP, and feed conversion ratio (FCR). There was a CD by HS interaction effect on FC and EP. Hens placed in high-density cages had greater serum glucose, total protein, albumin, globulin, Ca, and P concentrations and tended to have greater serum corticosterone concentration than hens placed in normaldensity cages. Increasing HS level linearly increased serum glucose, total protein, albumin, globulin, creatine, and Ca concentrations and linearly decreased serum triglyceride and very low-density lipoprotein concentrations. There was a CD by HS interaction effect on serum glucose and albumin concentrations. There were no alterations in egg quality parameters in response to increasing CD. Albumen index and Haugh unit decreased linearly and other egg quality parameters did not change as HS level increased. In conclusion, increased caging density adversely affected metabolic profile, despite insignificantly deteriorating laying performance. Moreover, benefits from humate supplementation seem to be more noteworthy for hens housed in stressing conditions than for hens housed in standard conditions.

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________________________________________________________________________________ AbstractThe current trial was conducted to determine the influence of different raising systems on the meat quality properties of male Turkish Pekin ducks. Ninety male ducklings were randomly allocated to three experimental groups: an animal-fish integrated farming group (IG), a non-animal-fish integrated farming group (NIG) and a poultry house group (PHG). All ducklings were fed a starter diet from weeks 2 to 6 and a finisher diet from weeks 6 to 10. Feed and water were offered ad libitum. At the end of the trial all ducks were slaughtered and the carcasses were stored at 3 °C for 24 hours, after which L*, a* and b* values of the carcass skins were measured. After standard dissection of carcasses, pectoralis muscles were obtained on which pH, colour (L*, a*, b*, C and H), total aerobic mesophilic, total aerobic psychrotrophic, lactic acid bacteria, Micrococcus/Staphylococcus, yeast-mould and Enterobacteriaceae counts were determined. The different raising systems of the ducks had significant effects on the pH, total aerobic mesophilic, Enterobacteriaceae, and L* and b* values of the pectoralis muscle. The lowest pH, total aerobic mesophilic and Enterobacteriaceae counts were found in the PHG group. The lowest L* values for the pectoralis muscle were found in the IG group while the highest a* value was recorded in the IG group. Significant differences in skin colour were observed between the experimental groups. For all production groups, all microbial counts were found to be within acceptable ranges. However, pH, total aerobic mesophilic and Enterobacteriaceae results were found to be lower in the PHG group than in the other groups. Different raising systems were thus found to affect the meat and skin colour of ducks, which may influence the preference of consumers.________________________________________________________________________________

The present study was aimed at the comparison of floor-based growth (FBG) and caged-based growth (CBG) systems in broiler production for growth performance and parameters related to slaughter, carcass and meat quality. Ninety one-day-old male Ross-308 chicks constituted the material of the study. It was determined that, in Groups FBG and CBG, the differences between body weight and cumulative body weight values were statistically very significant (P<0.01). The final body weights measured at the end of the trial and the mean body weight gain values in Groups FBG and CBG were determined as 2530 g -2046 g and 2389.16 g -1904.77 g, respectively. The end-trial final feed conversion rates of Groups FBG and CBG were determined as 1.82 and 1.88, respectively, and it was ascertained that the difference between the values of the two groups was statistically insignificant (P>0.05). While the hot and cold dressing percentages and the neck, wing, drumstick and tail percentages did not statistically differ between Groups FBG and CBG (P>0.05), values pertaining to breast meat displayed significant differences (P<0.05). It was determined that the L*, b* and C* values pertaining to breast meat and the L*, a*, b* and C* values pertaining to chicken drumsticks displayed statistically significant differences (P<0.05, P<0.01) between the trial groups. Keywords: Broiler, Floor-based breeding, Caged-based breeding, Carcass, Meat quality Farklı Yetiştirme Metotlarının Etlik Piliçlerde Besi Performansı, Kesim ve Karkas Özellikleri İle Bazı Et Kalite Parametreleri Üzerine Etkisi ÖzetBu araştırma altlıklı yer sistemi (FBG) ve kafeste (CBG) yapılan etlik piliç yetiştiriciliğinin besi performansı, kesim, karkas ve bazı karkas kalite parametrelerinin karşılaştırılması amacıyla yürütülmüştür. Hayvan materyali olarak 90 adet bir günlük Ross-308 erkek broyler civciv kullanılmıştır. FBG ve CBG gruplarında canlı ağırlık ve kümülatif canlı ağırlık değerleri arasındaki farklılığın istatistiksel olarak çok önemli (P<0.01) olduğu saptanmıştır. Deneme sonu canlı ağırlık değerleri ile ortalama canlı ağırlık artışları FBG ve CBG gruplarında sarasıyla 2530 ve 2046 g ile 2389.16 ve 1904.77 g olarak tespit edilmiştir. Deneme sonu kümülatif yemden yararlanma değerleri FBG ve CBG gruplarında sırayla 1.82 ve 1.88 olarak bulunmuş ve aralarındaki farklılığın istatistiksel olarak önemsiz (P>0.05) olduğu tespit edilmiştir. FBG ve CBG gruplarında sıcak ve soğuk karkas randımanı ile boyun, kanat, but ve kuyruk oranlarına ait değerler arasında istatistiksel olarak farklılığın olmadığı (P>0.05), göğüs oranına ait değerler bakımından ise önemli (P<0.05) farklılıkların olduğu belirlenmiştir. Göğüs etinden elde edilen L*, b* ve C* değerlerinin ve but etinden elde edilen L*, a*, b* ve C* değerleri bakımından deneme grupları arasında önemli farklılıkların olduğu (P<0.05, P<0.01) tespit edilmiştir.