Radiographic examination of keel bone damage in living laying hens of different strains kept in two housing systems

Eusemann, Beryl; Baulain, Ulrich; Schrader, Lars; Thöne-Reineke, Christa; Patt, Antonia; Petow, Stefanie

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0194974

Cited by 58 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…They found a lower number of experimental fractures in the experimental line (24). Similarly, we found a higher prevalence of keel bone fractures and more severe keel bone deviations in a high compared to a low performing brown layer line in a previous study (19). However, in the same study, no such clear differences between high and low performing layer lines were found within the white layers (19).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 71%

“…Digital radiographs were taken and evaluated as previously described (19). The non-anesthetized hen was gently placed on its left side on the digital flat panel detector Thales Pixium 2430 EZ wireless (Thales Electron Devices S.A., Vélizy-Villacoublay, France) and lateral radiographs were taken with 50.0 kV and at 2 mAs using the X-ray apparatus WDT Blueline 1040 HF (Wirtschaftsgenossenschaft deutscher Tierärzte eG, Garbsen, Germany) and the X-ray suitcase Leonardo DR mini (Oehm und Rehbein GmbH, Rostock, Germany).…”

Section: Radiographic Examination Of the Keel Bonementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, indentations along the ventral surface can also be classified as a deviation" (11), can reach up to 82% (12,13). Age (4,5,(14)(15)(16)(17)(18), different housing systems (4,7,19), nutrition (20)(21)(22), and genetic background (5, 17-19, 23, 24) have been shown to influence KBD. Egg production and the high laying performance of modern laying strains may also favor the occurrence of keel bone damage.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…When investigating keel bone damage in laying hens, it is crucial to observe the same hens over a longer period of time because prevalence of both keel bone fractures and deviations has been shown to increase with age (5,14,(16)(17)(18)(19). However, in some studies, prevalence only increased until about the 50th week of age and then leveled off or even decreased (4,15,21).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Physical activity has been shown to lead to a higher radiographic density, a higher amount of cortical and cancellous bone, and a higher breaking strength of different bones (16,(34)(35)(36). However, keel bone fracture prevalence was found to be higher in more active housing systems such as floor housing and aviaries compared to cage systems (4,7,19,37). This phenomenon is usually explained by the higher risk of collisions with housing equipment that may lead to fractures (7,38).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Role of Egg Production in the Etiology of Keel Bone Damage in Laying Hens

et al. 2020

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Keel bone fractures and deviations belong to the most severe animal welfare problems in laying hens and are influenced by several factors such as husbandry system and genetic background. It is likely that egg production also influences keel bone health due to the high demand of calcium for the eggshell, which is, in part, taken from the skeleton. The high estrogen plasma concentration, which is linked to the high laying performance, may also affect the keel bone as sexual steroids have been shown to influence bone health. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between egg production, genetically determined high laying performance, estradiol-17ß concentration, and keel bone characteristics. Two hundred hens of two layer lines differing in laying performance (WLA: high performing; G11: low performing) were divided into four treatment groups: Group S received an implant containing a GnRH agonist that suppressed egg production, group E received an implant containing the sexual steroid estradiol-17ß, group SE received both implants, and group C were kept as control hens. Between the 12th and the 62nd weeks of age, the keel bone of all hens was radiographed and estradiol-17ß plasma concentration was assessed at regular intervals. Non-egg laying hens showed a lower risk of keel bone fracture and a higher radiographic density compared to egg laying hens. Exogenous estradiol-17ß was associated with a moderately higher risk of fracture within egg laying but with a lower risk of fracture and a higher radiographic density within non-egg laying hens. The high performing layer line WLA showed a significantly higher fracture risk but also a higher radiographic density compared to the low performing layer line G11. In contrast, neither the risk nor the severity of deviations were unambiguously influenced by egg production or layer line. We assume that within a layer line, there is a strong association between egg production and keel bone fractures, and, possibly, bone mineral density, but not between egg production and deviations. Moreover, our results confirm that genetic background influences fracture prevalence and indicate that the selection for high laying performance may negatively influence keel bone health.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 71%

Section: Radiographic Examination Of the Keel Bonementioning

confidence: 99%