Effects of B-Wave Ultraviolet Supplementation Using Light-Emitting Diodes on Caged Laying Hens during the Later Phase of the Laying Cycle

Abstract

Caged laying hens are prone to calcium deficiencies, resulting in osteoporosis and egg quality deterioration during the later phase of the laying cycle. Fluorescent light and light-emitting diodes (LEDs), which are widely used in poultry houses now, are both deficient in ultraviolet (UV) light, the lack of which is detrimental to chickens’ welfare and health. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of UVB light supplementation using LEDs on the bone traits, blood parameters, laying performance, and egg quality for caged laying hens at 68–75 weeks. In total, 120 Jingfen laying hens were randomly assigned to four different groups, with three replicates in each group (10 hens in each cage as a replicate). UVB-LED lamps installed under the feed troughs were used to provide UVB light (296–316 nm) for the birds in the three treatment groups (1 h, 2 h, and 3 h UVB supplementation per day, respectively), while the control group was not exposed to UVB-LED light. Bone traits, egg quality, and amounts of calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)D3), 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3), and 7-dehydrocholesterol (7-DHC) in both the serum and egg yolks were tested during the experiment. The results demonstrated that UVB-LED exposure significantly increased the bone mineral density (BMD), egg production, and yolk 1,25(OH)2D3 concentrations (p < 0.05), and reduced the content of serum 7-DHC (p < 0.05), especially in the 2 h/day group; however, it did not improve egg quality, vitamin D metabolites, or photoproducts in the serum and yolk 25(OH)2D3 concentrations (p > 0.05). This study concluded that UVB supplementation using LEDs had a positive effect on caged laying hens during the later phase of the laying cycle.

Application of Ultraviolet Light for Poultry Production: A Review of Impacts on Behavior, Physiology, and Production

“…Research into UV impacts on skeletal health for hens found that UVB exposure of 2 or 3 h daily increased the bone mineral density of older laying hens relative to only 1 h or no UVB supplementation (Wei et al, 2020). However, effects on bone area and bone mineral content were inconsistent among treatment groups across age (Wei et al, 2020).…”

“…Research into UV impacts on skeletal health for hens found that UVB exposure of 2 or 3 h daily increased the bone mineral density of older laying hens relative to only 1 h or no UVB supplementation (Wei et al, 2020). However, effects on bone area and bone mineral content were inconsistent among treatment groups across age (Wei et al, 2020). Assessment of serum samples showed no impacts across the 8-week trial duration on 25(OH)D 3 and P changes across time were similar across all treatment groups (Wei et al, 2020).…”

Preference testing for UV light spectrum and intensity in laying hens

“…Preference testing of indoor-housed chickens indicates both laying hen chicks and broilers prefer the UVA spectrum in comparison with lights with no UVA component ( Kristensen et al., 2007 ; Liu et al., 2018 ). UVA and/or UVB light supplementation can increase behavioral activity, reduce fear responses, improve bone composition, and improve egg production ( Sobotik et al., 2020 ; Wei et al., 2020 ). However, these previous studies have typically used low levels of UV supplementation.…”

Sensitivity and applications of the PCR Single-Strand Conformation Polymorphism method

“…PCR-SSCP has been used for several traits of animals such as wool characteristics [ 23 ], milk production traits [ 24 ], profile of sheep fatty acids [ 25 ], detection of Escherichia coli in the black swan [ 26 ], growth and carcass traits in lambs [ 27 ], reproductive traits in cattle [ 28 ], egg production traits in hens [ 29 ], body weight traits on chicken [ 30 – 32 ], gene study for fat-tailed and nonfat-tailed sheep [ 33 ], serotyping dichelobacter nodosus [ 34 ], mitochondrial diversity role in the productivity of quails [ 35 ], miR-9 gene affects litter size in goats [ 36 ], mutations in porcine [ 37 ], prolactin gene and association with egg production in ducks [ 38 ], wool fibre diameter in ewes [ 39 ], lactoferrin gene affects milk content in buffaloes [ 40 ], milk traits in yaks [ 41 ], association between MyoG gene and egg quality [ 42 ].…”