Evaluation of a calcium pre-molt and low-energy molt program: Effects on laying hen behavior, production, and physiology before, during, and after a fasting or non-fasting molt

Dickey, Emily R.

doi:10.31274/etd-180810-148

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 82 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…However, the Ca treatment did not have a carryover effect on the behaviors and postures of laying hens during or after molt and had no effect on the H:L during the Ca premolt treatment period. Production data from the current study found that the fine-Ca premolt treatment was beneficial to egg production in the next laying cycle and to overall laying hen performance (Dickey, 2008).…”

Section: Ca Premolt Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Effects of a premolt calcium and low-energy molt program on laying hen behavior and heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratios

et al. 2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The objectives of this study were to compare the behaviors, postures, and heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratios (H:L) of laying hens housed in a cage system when offered a Ca premolt treatment and low-energy molt diets vs. a traditional feed withdrawal (FW) treatment during and after molt. A total of 144 Hy-Line W-36 hens (85 wk of age), housed 3 hens/cage (413 cm(2)/hen), were used. Hens were allotted to treatments according to a randomized complete block design, with the cage location and initial BW as the blocking criteria. Six treatments were compared in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement with 2 Ca premolt treatments (fine or coarse) and 3 low-energy molt diets (FW, soybean hulls, or wheat middlings). The 2 Ca premolt treatments differed only in Ca particle size (fine was 0.14 mm and coarse was 2.27 mm mean diameter). Two postures and 5 behaviors were recorded and H:L was measured. Data were analyzed using the MIXED procedure of SAS, with P < 0.05 considered significant. There were no differences in behaviors, postures, or H:L during the premolt baseline period. The Ca premolt treatment had no carryover effects during or after molt for behaviors or postures. During molt, hens in the FW treatment were more active, and they ate and drank less compared with hens fed soybean hulls or wheat middlings, but there were no differences in aggression, nonnutritive pecking, or sitting. Drinking and aggression during and after molt were not different, but hens postmolt engaged in more sitting and feeding and less activity, nonnutritive pecking, and preening compared with during molt. There were no differences in H:L during or after molt. In conclusion, a Ca premolt treatment did not affect the behavior of the laying hen. The low-energy molt diets did not adversely affect behavior compared with FW and did not increase H:L; therefore, they could be useful alternatives for inducing molt in laying hens.

show abstract

Section: Ca Premolt Treatmentsmentioning

confidence: 94%

Effects of a premolt calcium and low-energy molt program on laying hen behavior and heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratios

et al. 2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…() reviewed different strategies for induced moulting in layer hens and reported some effective effects such as inhibition of ovulation and induction of moult in laying hens subjected to feed Ca‐deficient diets in several experiments. It is suggested that Ca‐deficient moult diet will inhibit access to enough Ca for production of the luteinizing hormone surge and subsequent demand for eggshell formation demand (Dickey, ; Pelicia et al., ). On the other hand, because reduced bone quality during moulting by a FW method could not improve after refeeding (Newman and Leeson, ), the potential of Ca‐adequate moult treatment to inhibit these bone losses may be an interesting subject.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of calcium with and without probiotic, lactose, or both on organ and body weights, immune response and caecal microbiota in moulted laying hens

Dastar

Khosravi

Boldajie

et al. 2015

Animal Physiology Nutrition

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A total of 72 laying hens were used to investigate the effect of probiotic and lactose on body weight loss, tibia ash, antibody production against sheep red blood cell (SRBC), heterophile-to-lymphocyte (H/L) ratio and gut microbiota in a common moulting method for 14 d. Hens were randomly allocated to 6 experimental groups consisting of (i) full feed (FF), (ii) feed withdrawal (FW), (iii) FW with calcium (Ca), (iv) FW with Ca and offering 7 g/lit lactose in drinking water (CaL), (v) FW with Ca and offering 1 g/lit probiotic in drinking water (CaP), and (vi) FW with Ca and offering a mixture of lactose and probiotic in drinking water (CaLP). The results showed body weight loss in all FW groups were more than 25% that was significantly higher than FF group (p < 0.05). The relative organ weights of hens in FW groups were lower than FF group; especially, it was significant for liver and ovary (p < 0.05). No significant difference was observed between all groups for tibia ash. The highest H/L ratio was related to FW group and offering Ca and lactose numerically and probiotic alone significantly resulted in decrease of this ratio (p < 0.05). The results also showed no significant difference for antibody production against SRBC among experimental groups. The highest coliform bacteria numeration observed in FW group and lactose could significantly reduce this population (p < 0.05). Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) numeration demonstrated a significant difference among treatments, so that FF hens had higher LAB than others (p < 0.05). In addition, FW moulted hens had significantly lower LAB compared to other moulted hens (p < 0.05), except for Ca group. In conclusion, probiotic and lactose was effective in maintaining caecal microbiota balance and improving immunity in hens exposed to moulting.

show abstract

“…Therefore, the productivity of older hens has become an increased concern to table-egg producers [3], and the layer industry is exploring nutritional strategies to extend the productive life of layers. These strategies include the utilization of high fiber diets [4], skip-a-day feeding [5], high calcium diets [6] and low energy feed [7]. Some of these strategies have raised animal welfare concerns because of the possibility of undesirable effects on the overall well-being of the laying hens [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Organic Selenium and Zinc on the Aging Process of Laying Hens

Stanley¹,

Shanklyn²

2012

Agrotechnol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Evaluation of a calcium pre-molt and low-energy molt program: Effects on laying hen behavior, production, and physiology before, during, and after a fasting or non-fasting molt

Cited by 3 publications

References 82 publications

Effects of a premolt calcium and low-energy molt program on laying hen behavior and heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratios

Effects of a premolt calcium and low-energy molt program on laying hen behavior and heterophil-to-lymphocyte ratios

Effect of calcium with and without probiotic, lactose, or both on organ and body weights, immune response and caecal microbiota in moulted laying hens

Effects of Organic Selenium and Zinc on the Aging Process of Laying Hens

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About