Egg production and quality under three housing systems in the tropics

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate egg production and quality of Rhode Island Red (RIR) laying hens in an outdoor system in the subhumid tropic. Eighty RIR laying hens were measured in two periods and housed randomly under three treatments: outdoor (O), indoor (I) and in conventional cages (C). Egg weight (55.88, 53.76 and 57.16 g, for O, I and C, respectively), food intake/hen/day (138.94, 129.74 and 162.90 g, for O, I and C, respectively) and food efficiency (3.13, 3.22 and 3.96 for O, I and C, respectively) were significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by housing system; however, both egg production and final body weight were not different (P > 0.05). Yolk colour (10.76, 9.94 and 10.08 colour scale, for O, I and C, respectively), albumen weight (92.63, 92.28 and 90.08 g, for O, I and C, respectively) and yolk weight (15.19, 14.61, 15.48 g for O, I and C, respectively) were significantly (P < 0.05) influenced by housing system, but albumen height, Haugh units and egg shell weight remained similar (P > 0.05). Under the conditions of this study, outdoor egg production seems to be a sustainable system comparable to the commercial type based on wired cages.

Yetiştirme Sistemleri ve Kabuk Renginin Bazı Yumurta Kalite Parametrelerine Etkisi

“…As can be seen from this finding, contrary to the expectations of the consumers' organic and free-range eggs yolk color, eggs obtained from these systems had lighter yolks, but this difference was not statistically significant (p>0.05) ( Table 1). Parallel to our results, some studies on this subject reported that there was no significant difference in the yolk color due to rearing systems 10,19 , while some other studies reported vise versa 1,9,11,16,17 . There was no significant difference between groups on analysis of the effect of shell color on yolk color (p>0.05) ( Table 2).…”

“…In this study, the heaviest eggs were cage, then freerange and organic. Similarly, results were reported indicating free-range eggs lighter than cage eggs 1,17 . In our country, the weight range for M (Medium) size grade A table eggs in TFCEN was indicated as 53-63 g 13 .…”

“…There was no statistical difference between groups on analysis of the effect of rearing systems on egg weight (p>0.05) ( Table 1). There are several parallel studies to our study indicating that there was no effect of rearing system on egg weight 1,4,9,10,16,19 , while other studies found significant differences in egg weights due to rearing systems 8,11,17 . There was no difference between groups on analysis of the effect of shell color on egg weight (p>0.05) ( Table 2).…”

“…There was a statistical difference between organic and freerange groups on analysis of the effect of rearing systems on shell thickness (p<0.05) ( Table 1). Studies on this subject, similarly found significant effect of rearing systems on shell thickness 1,3,9,17,18 . Contrarily, there are studies, which did not find a statistical difference between rearing systems and shell thickness 4,16,19 .…”

Effect of a commercial housing system on egg quality during extended storage

“…Conversely, Wang et al (2009) found no difference in the average albumen height and Haugh unit values from conventional cage and outdoor production systems. Additionally, Varguez-Montero et al (2012) found no differences in albumen height and Haugh unit when comparing conventional cage, outdoor, and indoor production systems and Hidalgo et al (2008) found similar Haugh unit values in Italian retail eggs from free range, cage, and barn production. Whereas the overall albumen height and Haugh unit values were found to be different between conventional and enriched colony cage production in the current study, the rate of decline at 4, 6, and 12 wk of storage for the 2 parameters was never significantly different between any of the housing systems.…”