Feather pecking and cannibalism in farm-kept laying hens are damaging behaviors both in terms of animal welfare and economic loss, and a major challenge in modern poultry farming. Both rearing with a foster hen and genetic selection have been demonstrated to reduce feather pecking in laying hens. We examined the effects of rearing with a foster hen, genetic selection for low mortality from cann...

this experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different levels of portulaca oleracea (po),medicinal plant, on performance, egg traits, blood biochemical and immunity parameters of laying hens. one hundred eighty hi-line (w-36 strain) mature laying hens 65 up to 76 weeks of age were allotted in a completely randomized design consisting of 5 treatments and 3 replicates (12 birds per re...

Ostrich fertility is a very important measure of their reproductive efficiency, hence our interest in studying the ostrich oviduct. In our study, we found in fully mature birds a thin walled region between magnum and isthmus free of glands and considered as an area of transition called zona translucent. Also, the uterus was formed from a cranial short tubal part followed by a caudal large sac-l...

Since one of the costs in the commercial egg industry is that of replacement pullets, commercial egg layer managers have opted to induce molt older hens in order to extend their productive life for additional egg laying cycles. Conventional molt induction involves the complete removal of feed for several days. However, this management practice can lead to deleterious physiological responses by ...

two experiments were conducted to evaluate the nutritional value of purslane powder and its effects on performance, egg quality and reproductive system parameters of laying hens. one hundred and twenty laying hens (leghorn, hy-line w-36) were used in a completely randomized design with four treatments and five replicates. hens received diet supplemented with different levels of purslane powder ...

This trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of high-dose daidzein supplements on laying performance, egg quality and antioxidation in laying hens during the late laying period. Seven hundred sixty eight 55-wk-old Hyline Brown were randomly assigned to four groups with 8 replicates of 24 birds each (192 laying hens per group) and fed diets supplemented with 0 (control), 10mg/kg, 50mg/kg and...

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of different levels of L-carnitine on productive performance, egg quality and blood parameters in laying hens. Forty-eight Hy-Line W-36 egg Layers were weighed at 90 weeks of age and randomly allocated into 16 cages (three hens per cage). Four dietary treatments were prepared by supplementing L-carnitine (0, 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg of diet)...

The aim of the study was to evaluate egg shell quality characteristics, mineral content in the egg shell, and serum mineral concentration during the egg formation process as influenced by oviposition time and ambient temperature at the beginning and end of the laying cycle in laying hens and broiler breeders. Egg shell quality deteriorated significantly at the higher temperature and was lower i...

The objective of this experiment was to replace soya bean oil with glycerol in laying hen diets and assess the change's effect on performance, parameters of egg quality and the egg fatty acid profile. A total of 60 44-week-old Hy-Line W36 laying hens were distributed according to a completely randomised experimental design into four treatments consisting of glycerol substitutions for soya bean ...

BACKGROUND Nutrition intake during growth strongly influences ovarian follicle development and egg laying in chicken hens, yet the underlying endocrine regulatory mechanism is still poorly understood. The relevant research progress is hindered by difficulties in detection of leptin gene and its expression in the chicken. However, a functional leptin receptor (LEPR) is present in the chicken whi...