influence of different single dietary sources on moult induction in laying hens

An investigation was carried out to assess the possibility of using single dietary sources as alternatives to feed deprivation for the induction of moult in commercial laying hens. The study involved six dietary groups of 29 laying hens: unmoulted, dried tomato pomace, alfalfa meal, rice bran, cumin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the science of food and agriculture 2007-11, Vol.87 (14), p.2555-2559
Main Authors: Mansoori, Behzad, Modirsanei, Mehrdad, Farkhoy, Mohsen, Kiaei, Mohammad-Mehdi, Honarzad, Jila
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
alfalfa
Biological and medical sciences
Diet
dried tomato pomace
Egg and egg product industries
egg production
egg quality
Eggs
Food
Food industries
Food processing industry
Fruit and vegetable industries
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
hen feeding
laying hens
molting
moult induction
tomato pomace
Tomatoes
weight loss
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Summary:An investigation was carried out to assess the possibility of using single dietary sources as alternatives to feed deprivation for the induction of moult in commercial laying hens. The study involved six dietary groups of 29 laying hens: unmoulted, dried tomato pomace, alfalfa meal, rice bran, cumin seed meal and feed withdrawal. The birds received the above diets during the moulting period (11 days), and body weight loss and ovary weight regression were measured. Post-moult production parameters (number of eggs produced per hen per day, egg weight, shell weight, yolk colour and Haugh unit) were measured for 12 weeks. Results showed that all dietary sources were as effective as feed withdrawal in causing ovary weight regression in birds. Birds provided with tomato pomace or alfalfa showed lower weight losses than feed-deprived birds at the end of the moulting period. Hens moulted by tomato pomace or alfalfa exhibited post-moult levels of egg production over a 12 week period that were superior to those of hens moulted by feed withdrawal. Post-moult eggs laid by hens moulted by all dietary sources were of comparable quality to eggs from feed-deprived hens and superior to those from unmoulted hens. As fibrous feeds with low metabolisable energy and an appreciable amount of protein, dried tomato pomace and alfalfa meal may be fed to hens on an ad libitum basis for effective moult induction while reducing the stress of severe starvation and retaining comparable egg quality and production. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry
ISSN:0022-5142
1097-0010
DOI:10.1002/jsfa.2939