In an experiment conducted on caged Bovans Brown hens, the effect of diet supplementation using organic acids and prebiotic fructans on the biomechanical and geometrical indicators of the tibia and femur bones was evaluated. At 25 weeks of age, layers were randomly assigned to 14 experimental groups, each comprising 6 hens kept in individual cages. A 2 × 7 factorial arrangement, with two dietary levels of calcium and phosphorus (normal -37.0 g Ca/kg, 6.5 g P/kg, and reduced -32.5 g Ca/kg, 6.0 g P/kg), and with diets supplemented by selected additives (none; inulin, 7.5 g/kg; oligofructose, 7.5 g/kg; short chain fatty acids (SCFA), 5.0 g/kg; medium chain fatty acid (MCFA), 2.5 g/kg; SCFA, 3.0 g/kg + MCFA, 2.0 g/kg; inulin, 3.0 g/kg + SCFA, 5.0 g/kg) was used. The experiment was conducted for 45 weeks and concluded when the hens were 70 weeks old.At 70 weeks of age, reducing the dietary levels of Ca and P had decreased the bone breaking strength by 8.9% (P ≤ 0.001) and the yielding load by 5.6% (P ≤ 0.05). A similar tendency for bone breaking strength (P ≤ 0.05) and stiffness (P ≤ 0.05) was found in the femur bones. The diet with a lower level of Ca and P negatively affected the geometrical indicators of the bones such as cortex thickness (P ≤ 0.05) and cross section area (P ≤ 0.05), but had no effect on bone weight and length. Hens fed diets supplemented with oligofructose, MCFA, SCFA + MCFA or inulin + SCFA displayed a significantly higher bone breaking strength and yield load in the tibia bone than that of the control group. In the case of femurs, a positive influence of MCFA or simultaneous addition of inulin + SCFA on bone breaking strength was found. The additives had no significant effects on the geometrical indicators of either bone. It was concluded that selected feed additives which lower the pH of the diet and intestinal content can beneficially affect the biomechanical indicators of the bones of high-productive laying hens.
Laying hens, bone quality, calcium, organic acids, prebiotic fructansSymptoms of osteoporosis are often observed in modern flocks of high-productive layers, especially in the second part of the laying cycle. Osteoporosis can be defined as a decrease in the fully mineralized structural bone in which Ca is mobilized from the bone in order to contribute to eggshell formation (Whitehead and Fleming 2000). The condition leads to increased bone fragility and susceptibility to fracture. The consequences of this syndrome, also known as 'cage layer fatigue', i.e., poor bone quality, weakness, deformities and breakage, spinal bone collapse and paralysis, can be an important welfare problem, causing acute and chronic pain and distress to the birds (Webster 2004). In the United Kingdom, it was found that, in the end phase of lay, 29% of caged hens had sustained one or more broken bones during their lifetime (Gregory and Wilkins 1989). A study conducted by McCoy et al. (1996) attributed 35% of mortality in commercial caged laying hens to osteoporosis. Bone breakage is also a serious prob...