Comparative mortality and predation in relation to egg production traits of Rhode Island Red, Black Australorp and Hyblack laying hens in scavenging production systems of rural Malawi

2012 ◽  
Vol 53 (5) ◽  
pp. 570-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Mata ◽  
B. Mwakifuna
2021 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 66-70
Author(s):  
O. O. ONI ◽  
B. Y. ABUBAKAR ◽  
S. O. OGUNDIPE

Data on body weight at 16 (WT16); 20 (WT20) weeks of age and at sexual maturity (WTSM) weight of first egg (WT1st), age at sexual maturity (ASM) and 120-d egg production (EN)  were used to estimate genetic parameters in 636 hens of two strains of Rhode Island chikens. There were significant (P.01) differences between  the two strains for all traits except for WTSM.The heritability estimates obtained ranged from 0.05 to 0.41 and 0.04 to 0.30 for strains 1 and 2 respectively. The genetic correlations obtained for the various traits were medium to high for the two strains. The phenotypic correlations were generally low but followed the same trend. The results indicate that selected stocks of the two strains would show improvements in egg production and age   at sexual maturity if juvenile body weight (WT20) is employed as a selection criterion at housing for laying hens.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 360
Author(s):  
Georgi Yu. Laptev ◽  
Elena A. Yildirim ◽  
Larisa A. Ilina ◽  
Valentina A. Filippova ◽  
Ivan I. Kochish ◽  
...  

One of the main roles in poultry resistance to infections caused by Salmonella is attributed to host immunity and intestinal microbiota. We conducted an experiment that involved challenging Lohmann White laying hens with Salmonella Enteritidis (SE), feeding them a diet supplemented with an EOs-based phytobiotic Intebio®. At 1 and 7 days post-inoculation, the expression profiles of eight genes related to immunity, transport of nutrients in the intestine, and metabolism were examined. Cecal microbiome composition and blood biochemical/immunological indices were also explored and egg production traits recorded. As a result, the SE challenge of laying hens and Intebio® administration had either a suppressive or activating effect on the expression level of the studied genes (e.g., IL6 and BPIFB3), the latter echoing mammalian/human tissue-specific expression. There were also effects of the pathogen challenge and phytobiotic intake on the cecal microbiome profiles and blood biochemical/immunological parameters, including those reflecting the activity of the birds’ immune systems (e.g., serum bactericidal activity, β-lysine content, and immunoglobulin levels). Significant differences between control and experimental subgroups in egg performance traits (i.e., egg weight/number/mass) were also found. The phytobiotic administration suggested a positive effect on the welfare and productivity of poultry.


2017 ◽  
Vol 40 ◽  
pp. 37677
Author(s):  
Daniel Araujo Netto ◽  
Héder José D'Ávila Lima ◽  
Julia Rodrigues Alves ◽  
Bianca Corrêa de Morais ◽  
Mauricio Silva Rosa ◽  
...  

 The environment is very important for the performance of laying hens; thus, techniques are required to improve production systems, providing better welfare for poultry and consequent increase in the quality of the final product, the egg. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of rearing system, on the floor and in cage, on the performance and egg internal and external quality of laying hens. A total of 320 Hysex Brown laying hens, with 34-43 weeks days of age, was distributed in a completely randomized design, with two treatments, floor and cage, with 10 replicates each. The parameters evaluated were: individual feed intake, egg production per replicate, feed conversion per dozen eggs, egg weight; weight and percentage participation of shell, albumen and yolk, specific gravity, body weight variation and viability of birds. The results show that the birds raised on the floor showed best results as to egg production, besides the best internal and external quality, with greater weight of egg, yolk, albumen, shell and with lower losses of eggs. Because of the negative effects of the cage system, in general, hens presented lower results when compared to results of those raised on the floor. 


1934 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 636-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. S. Willcox

SummaryA nitrogen balance experiment of ten weeks' duration with two Rhode Island Red laying hens is described.The observed variations in the retention of nitrogen for egg-producing purposes do not appear to be connected with the output of egg nitrogen or with the number of eggs laid in the various egg cycles.The view held by other workers that the nitrogen required for egg production can be largely if not entirely drawn from the food supplied during the laying period is confirmed.The marked storage of nitrogen which has been shown to occur immediately prior to the commencement of egg laying is not repeated during the laying period, and it is suggested that during a period of heavy egg production synthesis of the nitrogenous constituents of the egg proceeds at a fairly uniform rate.


2020 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 564-577
Author(s):  
M. Usman ◽  
A. Mahmud ◽  
J. Hussain ◽  
A. Javid

The effects of the production system, breed cross, and their interaction on performance, egg quality, and hatching traits were evaluated. Rhode Island Red and Black Australorp were crossed with Naked Neck chickens (first generation RNN, and BNN, respectively). These crosses were mated among themselves and crossed to produce four crossbreds: RR (RNN x RNN), BB (BNN x BNN), RB (RNN x BNN), and BR (BNN x RNN). Thirty-six pullets and 9 cockerels from each crossbred were maintained in three production systems: the aviary system (AV), conventional cages (CC), and enriched cages (EC). Thus there were 48 pullets and 12 cockerels in each production system. Bodyweight, egg production percentage, and egg weight were highest in EC, followed by CC and AV. Higher egg weight, egg surface area, and egg volume were also observed in EC compared with CC and AV. Fertility and hatchability were higher and early embryonic mortality was lower in AV than in EC and CC. Bodyweight, egg production percentage, egg weight, egg volume, and surface area were higher for RB and BR than for BB and RR. Fertility and hatchability were similar for RB and BR. RR was similar to BR, but lower than RB. BB had the lowest fertility and hatchability. Thus, chickens in EC performed better than in the other systems, except that hatching traits were better in AV. RB and BR performed better than BB and RR.Key words: breed crosses, chicken, egg quality, hatchability


2017 ◽  
Vol 62 (No. 9) ◽  
pp. 377-383 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Tůmová ◽  
J. Vlčková ◽  
D. Chodová

The differences in egg production traits in six laying hen genotypes (brown-egg hens Bovans Brown, Bovans Sperwer, ISA Sussex; white-egg hen Dekalb White; laying hens with tinted shells Moravia Barred and Moravia BSL) and the interactions of genotype and oviposition on egg quality were evaluated. The genotype affected the laying rate (P ≤ 0.003), mean sequence length (P ≤ 0.001), and time of oviposition (P ≤ 0.001). The brown-egg genotypes laid eggs approximately 1 h earlier than the white-egg genotypes and approximately 2 h earlier than the tinted-egg genotypes. Egg shell strength was the lowest in tinted-egg genotypes (P ≤ 0.001) and declined with the time of oviposition (P ≤ 0.002). Egg shell percentage (P ≤ 0.011) and thickness (P ≤ 0.011) were affected by the interaction of genotype and oviposition. None of the effects affected egg weight; however, the proportion of egg components was significantly influenced by the interaction of genotype and oviposition. The study confirmed that the differences in the egg production and egg quality of various genotypes are associated with the laying pattern.


2012 ◽  
Vol 52 (10) ◽  
pp. 945 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ismail Durmus ◽  
Huseyin Goger ◽  
Sahnur Demirtas ◽  
Sermin Yurtogullari

The study was carried out to identify some production traits of the pure Barred Rock 1 (BR1) line and rapid × slow feathering line crosses derived from the BR1 pure line, in addition to F1 crosses of all these dam lines with Rhode Island Red 1 sire line. The BR1 line previously used a brown layer dam line for barred/non-barred day-old chick auto-sexing and synthetic slow and rapid wing feathering lines. Parent lines showed significant differences in sexual maturity and egg production (P < 0.01) and early embryonic mortality (P < 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in weight at sexual maturity, average egg weight, hatchability of fertile eggs, hatchability of total eggs set, and middle and late embryonic mortalities. A significant difference was found among F1 crosses with respect to weight at sexual maturity (P < 0.05), but no significant difference (P > 0.05) could be determined for age at sexual maturity and egg production. Overall, rapid feathering hens had better production traits than slow feathering hens. The dual crossbred parent lines exhibited almost the same level of egg production traits compared with the pure line.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. e570974509
Author(s):  
Rafael Alan Baggio ◽  
Samuel Jacinto Lunardi ◽  
Manuela Testa ◽  
Jhonatan Pazinatto Boito ◽  
Marcel Manente Boiago ◽  
...  

The aim to evaluate whether different beak trimming methods affected the performance and well-being of laying hens raised in cage and floor systems. During the starter phase, we used a completely randomized design, with three treatments (hot blade beak trimming, infrared beak trimming, and no beak trimming (control)), with four repetitions and in the grower and production phase, we used a factorial arrangement scheme involving two production systems (cage or floor) and three beak management methods (as above). We reared the birds in starter, grower and production phases over a course of 30 weeks. We evaluated productivity, egg quality, behavioral parameters and biochemical variables. In the starter phase, control birds showed higher blood glucose levels (p=0.043). In the grower phase, birds subjected to hot blade beak trimming and control birds showed lower feed intake and better feed conversion. Triglyceride levels were higher in the cage rearing system (p<0.05). In the production phase, the cage rearing system showed higher productivity (p<0.05), mean egg weight (p<0.01), cholesterol levels (p<0.05) and oxygen reactive species levels (p<0.05). In the production phase, the floor system gave rise to a higher frequency of comfort movement behaviors (p<0.01). Hens in cage had improved their performance and had greater egg production efficiency. The choice of the beak method depends on the breeding system.


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