Ammonia (NH3) emissions from laying hens are affected by nutrient content of the diet, manure quantity, and manure properties such as moisture content, nitrogen content, and pH. These production traits may vary with strain of the hen. However, limited information is available concerning the effects of laying-hen genetics on manure properties and NH3 emission. This study was conducted to compara...

BACKGROUND Feather pecking and cannibalism are major concerns in poultry farming, both in terms of animal welfare and farm economics. Genetic selection and introduction of (aspects of) maternal care have been suggested as potential interventions to reduce feather pecking in laying hens. Altered brain development has been proposed to reflect welfare states in animals, and can provide more insigh...

The objectives of the current study were to evaluate the effect of feeding diets containing 0, 10, or 20% distillers dried grains plus solubles (DDGS) to laying hens (21 to 26 wk of age) on emissions of NH3 and H2S. Hy-Line W-36 hens (n = 640) were allocated randomly to 8 environmental rooms for a 5-wk period (hens in 3 rooms were offered the 10% and 20% DDGS diets each; hens in 2 rooms were of...

Two trials were conducted to assess the fate of the Cry3Bb1 protein from YieldGard rootworm corn (MON 863) when fed to laying hens. In the first trial, 2 diets, 1 formulated with MON 863 and 1 with conventional corn, were fed to laying hens (12 replicate cages with 4 hens/cage per treatment) for 8 wk. Daily feed intake (FI), egg production (EP), and BW were measured. Prestudy fecal samples, wk ...

increase in feed intake of broiler breeder hens, results to incidence of metabolic and hormonal changes and finally leads to poor reproductive performance. an experiment was conducted to evaluate responses of feed-satiated and feed-restricted laying breeder hens to daily injection of an acute dose of progesterone (p4). a total of 64 cobb 500 hens were fed either restricted or ad libitum from 27...

In this exploratory study, we tracked free-range laying hens on two commercial flocks with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology with the aim to examine individual hen variation in range use. Three distinct outdoor zones were identified at increasing distances from the shed; the veranda [0-2.4 m], close range [2.4-11.4 m], and far range [>11.4 m]. Hens' movements between these areas ...

This study aimed to determine the mechanism by which H9N2 avian influenza virus (AIV) affects eggshell quality. Thirty-week-old specific pathogen free egg-laying hens were inoculated with the chicken-origin H9N2 AIV strain (A/Chicken/shaanxi/01/2011) or with inoculating media without virus by combined intraocular and intranasal routes. The time course for the appearance of viral antigen and tis...

in this experiment, the effects of fennel and thyme extracts with and without flaxseed were investigated on performance and egg quality of leghorn-type laying hens (hy-line w-36). 200 laying hens from 26 to 38 weeks of age were assigned to five dietary treatments with five replications. the treatment groups were: 1) control (a diet without any additives); 2) control diet plus fennel (40 mg/kg f...

Salmonella Enteritidis is vertically transmitted to eggs from laying hens through infected ovaries and oviducts. S. Enteritidis can also penetrate the eggshell from contaminated feces. Reducing S. Enteritidis in laying hens is vital to provide safer eggs and minimize the spread of salmonellosis to humans. Antibiotics have been widely used to control bacterial diseases in broilers and laying hen...

The objective of this study was to evaluate several nonfeed removal methods compared with feed removal for induced molting of laying hens. An experiment was conducted using 576 Dekalb White hens (69 wk of age) randomly assigned to 1 of 8 dietary treatments. Two of these treatments consisted of feed removal for 10 d followed by ad libitum access to a 16% CP, corn-soybean meal diet or a 94% corn ...