Shell strength of eggs from medium‐bodied hybrid hens housed in cages or on range in outside pens

Hughes, B.O.; Dun, P.; McCorquodale, C.

doi:10.1080/00071668508416794

Cited by 19 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…In the present study, feed conversion was not significantly different between the 2 cage systems (EC = 1.76 vs. CC = 1.78 ± 0.01 g of feed/g of egg). Although feed conversion can be influenced by the housing system (Vits et al, 2005), in general, caged birds perform better than those in aviary and free-range systems (Hughes et al, 1985).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Production performance and nitrogen flow of Shaver White layers housed in enriched or conventional cage systems

Neijat¹,

House

Guenter³

et al. 2011

Poultry Science

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Despite the large number of studies examining the impact of cage systems on Ca and P nutrition, data are limited on the N balance of hens when housed under different systems. To this end, an experiment was conducted to assess N balance, manure characteristics, and indices of the performance of laying hens housed in 2 distinct caging systems. A total of 4,836 commercial Shaver White hens were housed in either enriched (EC) or conventional (CC) cages (average floor space per bird of 643 and 468 cm(2), respectively) under semicontrolled environmental conditions. Enriched cages provided hens with a curtained nesting area, scratch pad, and perches. Birds in both systems were phase fed similar layer diets for 11 periods (4 wk each). Data, expressed on a hen basis, were analyzed as repeated measures using the mixed model procedure of SAS. Lower feed disappearance (P < 0.01; 92.5 vs. 95.0 ± 0.6 g/d, DM basis) and manure output (P < 0.01; 79.8 vs. 91.3 ± 1.2 g/d, as-is basis, and 27.0 vs. 28.1 ± 0.2 g/d, DM basis) were observed in birds housed in EC compared with CC, respectively. Manure DM was 34.1 and 31.0 ± 0.3% for EC and CC, respectively. Egg production, feed conversion ratio, BW, egg weight, and egg mass were not significantly different between the 2 systems. Overall egg N output decreased with age for both cage systems and was not significantly different between the systems. Although no difference was observed in the overall manure N excretion (1.94 and 1.96 ± 0.02 g/d for EC and CC, respectively), hens housed in CC had a significantly (P < 0.05) higher N balance compared with those in the EC system (85.0 vs. 30.2 ± 13.6 mg/d, respectively), which could potentially be explained by a higher (P < 0.05) manure N excretion in the EC at the later stages of production. The current data provide estimates of the efficiency of N utilization in laying hens housed under different housing conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Production performance and nitrogen flow of Shaver White layers housed in enriched or conventional cage systems

Neijat¹,

House

Guenter³

et al. 2011

Poultry Science

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“…In the organic system downgraded eggs were especially dirty and very dirty, probably due to laying eggs in the free range area while in litter system eggs were more cracked (29.74% B vs 8.57% O), probably due to less shell thickness, which was significantly higher in the organic system than in the litter floor housing system (0.44mm vs 0.42mm, P<0,001). Also in free range several authors found a positive effect of out run on shell strength (Pavloski et al, 1981;Hughes et al, 1985;Leyendecker, 2001). Fresh egg weight in relation to layer age and housing system.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of two different rearing systems (organic and barn) on production performance, animal welfare traits and egg quality characteristics in laying hens

Ferrante

Lolli

Vezzoli

et al. 2009

Italian Journal of Animal Science

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Alternative housing systems for hen eggs production represents clear evidence of the trend in animal housing and husbandry towards extensive rearing methods. Consumer demand is oriented towards healthy foods controlled not only under a safety point of view, but also under a welfare assessment of the animals' living conditions. Among the different alternative systems deep litter and organic production in recent years have been improved in Italy. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether different housing systems (barn B and organic O) for laying hens may influence productive performance, fear responses and egg quality characteristics. A total of 4,745 birds were housed in the B system and 2,016 in the O system, both of which were commercial facilities. In each system the same strain (Hy-Line Brown) was housed and layer performance, external and internal egg characteristics, mortality and feed consumption were recorded weekly. Animal reactivity was recorded monthly with the approaching test. Moreover, the Tonic Immobility test was conducted at 70 weeks of age; feather and foot pad conditions were also investigated at the same time. The peak of laying was reached in both housing systems at 25 weeks of age and was higher in organic hens (94.5%) than in barn hens (93.0%). Feed conversion rate during the overall laying period was 2.36 vs 2.20, respectively, in O and B housing systems. There was a significant difference concerning the eggs classified as very dirty, dirty and cracked between the two systems. The dirty eggs were higher in O system probably due to laying eggs in a free range area, while the higher number of cracked eggs in B system may be due to a significantly less shell thickness in this system. Egg weight increased with layer age in both housing systems. Animals reared in O system showed less fearfulness than in B emphasised by the approaching and Tonic Immobility test results. Feather scoring did not evidence any severe plumage damage; statistical analysis showed some significant differences in comb and back areas between O and B systems. The hens reared on litter showed more aggressive pecking than the organic hens probably due to difference both in light intensity and in density.

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“…Eggs from free-range production systems have been shown to weigh more on average than those from battery and conventional cages (Hughes et al, 1985;Hidalgo et al, 2008). Hughes et al (1985) reported that the differences in egg weight could be due to differences in environmental temperature between the free-range and caged systems.…”

Section: Egg Weightmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laying hen rearing systems: a review of major production results and egg quality traits

Rakonjac

Bogosavljević-Bošković

Pavlovski

et al. 2014

World's Poultry Science Journal

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Laying hen rearing systems have been the focus of scientific research for many years. Over the last few decades, new laying hen rearing systems have been rapidly introduced in an effort to harmonise poultry health and welfare with consumer, producer, industry and environmental demands. Given the above situation, the subject matter of this paper was a comparative review of the results obtained by different authors on the effect of rearing system on productive traits (egg production and mortality) and egg quality characteristics (egg weight, proportions of main egg parts, Haugh units, yolk colour and carotenoids) in laying hens. Although productive performance in alternative systems is often lower compared to conventional, intensive layers, eggs from alternative systems have been proven in numerous studies to have better nutritional properties. Moreover, research results indicate differences within rearing systems. In view of this, this overview of the literature on the use of different rearing systems in table egg production can serve as a tool in determining the future direction of research as well as an indicator of its practical application.

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Shell strength of eggs from medium‐bodied hybrid hens housed in cages or on range in outside pens

Cited by 19 publications

References 9 publications

Production performance and nitrogen flow of Shaver White layers housed in enriched or conventional cage systems

Production performance and nitrogen flow of Shaver White layers housed in enriched or conventional cage systems

Effects of two different rearing systems (organic and barn) on production performance, animal welfare traits and egg quality characteristics in laying hens

Laying hen rearing systems: a review of major production results and egg quality traits

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