Induced molting by feed withdrawal has been a common practice in the commercial layer industry and usually involves the removal of feed for a period of up to 14 d. However, this is a practice that is believed to adversely influence the welfare of the hens and there is a need to examine behavioral responses to alternative molt regimens. The behavioral patterns of hens on 90% alfalfa:10% layer ra...

rice bran (rb) is a major by-product, produced from the rice milling process. this study was conducted to evaluate the performance, egg quality, and blood biochemical parameters of 288 hy-line laying hens fed diets with rice bran and commercial microbial phytase natuphos®5000. the experiment was a 4×2 factorial one with four rb levels (0, 5, 10, and 15%) by two phytase levels (0 and 5000 ftu/kg...

two experiments were conducted to determine the effect of phytase supplementation on layer hens and broiler chickens performance and compare the use of phytase nutrient equivalency values in feed formulation with those fed conventional diet. in the first ex-periment, 640 commercial broiler chicks were used from 11 to 49 days of age. the ex-perimental units were allocated at random to 4 dietary ...

Traditionally, molting was initiated by withdrawing feed. However, public criticism of feed deprivation, based on the perception that it inhumanely increases hunger, has led the poultry industry to ban the practice. Thus far, alternatives have not been demonstrated to ameliorate the increase in hunger that led to the ban on inducing molting by feed deprivation. Incorporating melengestrol acetat...

Feed deprivation is commonly used by the poultry industry to induce molting and stimulate multiple egg-laying cycles. However, feed deprivation has been observed experimentally to increase susceptibility of poultry to Salmonella infections. Previous studies indicated that alfalfa was efficacious in reducing Salmonella; the present investigation was designed to evaluate the efficacy of combined ...

Molting is a common practice used by the commercial egg industry to rejuvenate flocks for a second or third laying cycle. During this time the hens rest from production, and the reproductive organs are rejuvenated to increase production and quality during the next laying cycle. Although feed withdrawal (FW) is the most popular and effective method of molt induction, it has come under scrutiny d...

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...

A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of alfalfa-based molt diets on molting performance and bone qualities. A total of 36 Single Comb White Leghorn hens were used for the study. There were 6 treatments: pretrial control (PC), fully fed (FF), feed withdrawal (FW), 90% alfalfa:10% layer ration (A90), 80% alfalfa:20% layer ration (A80), and 70% alfalfa:30% layer ration (A70). For the PC t...

Sixty White Leghorn hens were assigned to 1 of 6 treatments: pretrial control (PC), full fed (FF), 9-d feed withdrawal (FW), 90% alfalfa-10% layer ration (A90), 80% alfalfa-20% layer ration (A80), and 70% alfalfa/30% layer ration (A70). For the PC, hens were killed and bones collected immediately before light restriction. The FF hens were also subjected to light restriction. After hens were fas...

In many cases health and welfare problems are observed in organic egg production systems, as are high environmental risks related to nutrient leaching. These disadvantages might be reduced if the layers are allowed to utilise their ability to forage to a higher degree thereby reducing the import of nutrients into the system and stimulating the hens to perform a natural behaviour. However, very ...