2. A total of 144 dwarf hens (38 weeks of age) from the same hatch were randomly divided into 12 groups of 12 birds (4 dietary treatments × 3 replicates).
3. A 2 × 4 factorial design was used to study the effect of 2 lines (Factor A) and substitution of soybean meal (SBM) with 4 concentrations (0, 10, 15 and 20%) of sunflower meal (SFM) [Factor B] on egg quality traits of dwarf dam line hens.
4. All the diets were designed to be isocaloric (11?3 MJ ME/kg) and isonitrogenous (180 g/kg crude protein) The duration of the experiment was 12 weeks.
5. Analysis of variance indicated a highly significant line effect. There were non-significant effects of substitution of soybean meal with different concentrations of sunflower meal on egg quality traits except for Haugh unit.
6. White plumaged dwarf broiler breeder dam line produced significantly fewer, but larger, eggs than coloured dwarf dam line hens. 相似文献
2. Breeder hens fed ad libitum and subjected to either conventional or intermittent lighting ingested respectively, 25 g and 14 to 17 g more than hens restricted to 115 g/d.
3. Body weight was greater in hens fed ad libitum irrespective of the lighting pattern and of the amount of food intake.
4. Persistency of egg production was impaired by intermittent lighting.
5. Ad libitum feeding reduced egg fertility. The decrease was larger in breeder hens on intermittent lighting.
6. Hatchability was increased in hens submitted to the symmetrical lighting pattern (0.5L:3.5d).
7. Egg and chick weights were higher in hens fed ad libitum.
8. Shell index and shell breaking strength increased in restricted hens on the intermittent lighting pattern (0.5L:3.5d) × 6.
9. The best performance was obtained in restricted hens on the conventional lighting pattern. 相似文献
2. Diets formulated by linear programming contained between 60 and 150 g algae meal/kg by substituting algae meal and sorghum for fish meal, soyabean meal and maize in a control diet.
3. The effects of the dietary algae meal ranged from nil to a significant depression of growth rate and food utilisation. In certain cases growth retardation was associated with depressed food consumption.
4. The metabolisable energy concentration of the algae meal was estimated to be 11–62 MJ/kg and the nitrogen absorption coefficient 0.81. 相似文献
2. Hens of the population with the high incidence of whitening appeared to be more fearful than hens of the population with the low incidence of whitening.
3. Brown colouration of the egg shell and the incidence and degree of shell whitening declined as the hens aged.
4. Brown colouration and egg shell whitening were most pronounced on the blunt ends of the eggs.
5. A large part of the variation in egg shell whitening was attributable to the individual (hen) component of variance.
6. Differences in egg shell whitening, between the two populations, were detectable throughout the 26 weeks of the experiment.
7. Oviposition intervals were similar for normal and coated eggs when birds were not exposed to disturbance.
8. Disturbance of hens increased oviposition intervals and the incidence and degree of shell whitening, to a similar extent, in both populations.
9. It is concluded that stress‐related egg retention is not the sole factor responsible for abnormal egg shell whitening. Shell whitening may occur as a consequence of the premature termination of shell pigmentation as well as a consequence of the retardation of oviposition which occurs when hens are disturbed. 相似文献
2. In experiment 1 with hens caged individually, treatment groups comprised relocated hens given 5 new neighbours and hens not relocated but given 0, 2 or 4 new neighbours.
3. In experiment 2 with hens housed two per cage, treatment groups comprised relocation with or without that hen which shared the cage before the move.
4. In both experiments relocated hens laid fewer eggs in the week following social reorganisation.
5. Relocated hens in experiment 1 ate less food in the week following the shift at 42 weeks of age than did hens not moved. In experiment 2 in which all hens were moved, food consumption was not affected. 相似文献
2. Battery caged hens had the poorest bones, as assessed by measurements of cancellous bone volume, radiographic density, cortical thickness and three‐point breaking strength.
3. Humeri from birds in the Litter and Wire system were less dense radiographically and weaker than those from Perchery or Naturel birds but leg bone characteristics were similar with these three systems.
4. There were no differences in bone characteristics between birds in Perchery and Naturel systems.
5. There were strong correlations between radiographic densities and strengths of contralateral humeri and tibiae over all husbandry systems. Humerus structural and strength characteristics may be the best criteria of osteoporosis in hens.
6. It is concluded that the extent of movement allowed by different husbandry systems affects structural bone loss and bone strength in laying hens.
7. It is further concluded that the breaking strength of a hen's bone is closely related to morphometric measures and radiographic density of its structural components. 相似文献
2. A 25000 kDa purified recombinant derived turkey prolactin (rtPRL), the biological activity of which was tested using a crop sac assay, was used as immunogen for the production of rabbit antiserum. In this biological test, the rtPRL was as active as the ovinePRL.
3. The radioligand (rtPRL) was labelled with 125I and the assay allowed the detection of standard doses of rtPRL ranging from 400 pg/tube to 50 ng/tube.
4. No cross reaction with chicken luteinising hormone and recombinant chicken growth hormone was detected.
5. The within and between assay coefficients of variability were 5.0 ± 2.7% and 16.3%, respectively. The overall mean recovery ratio was 1.01.
6. The dose‐response curves obtained with serial dilution of plasma and pituitary from turkey hens at different physiological stages and from male turkeys were parallel to those obtained with standard rtPRL.
7. The measured concentration of prolactin was 5 times higher in plasma from incubating than laying turkey hens, and the pituitaries from incubating hens contained 2 and 4 times more prolactin than those of laying and out of lay hens or males, respectively.
8. To further assess the validity of the assay, we measured changes in plasma concentration of prolactin in turkeys following stimulation with chicken vasointestinal peptide (cVIP). A single injection of 1 or 10 μg/kg body weight of cVIP to laying hens produced a large and rapid increase in plasma prolactin.
9. This new radioimmunoassay appears to be highly specific and sensitive for the measurement of turkey prolactin. 相似文献
2. An Individual Poultry Weighing System (IPWS) was developed to record time, duration, location and body weight of visits of individual hens to 4 weighing scales.
3. The number of hens that visited the weighing scales per 3 h period varied from less than 10 during the dark‐period to more than 60 during the light‐period.
4. The average number of visits per individual hen was 1–4 and the average number of successful weighings per hen was 0–6 during the light‐period.
5. Body weight showed a diurnal rhythm: the difference between the maximum body weight at night and the minimum body weight in the morning was 63 g.
6. The location of the scales influenced number of visits, number of weighings, mean body weight, flock‐uniformity and duration of visits.
7. Body weight per 3 h period did not differ between hens which were individually recognised and those which were not.
8. Flock‐uniformity was 2–6% higher during the light‐period if it was based on weighings of identified hen visits.
9. The average duration of the visits to the scales in the middle of the feeding tier during the light‐period was 63 s.
10. Of all the hens that visited the scales during a 24 h period, 54% visited them only once.
11. Automatic weighing systems without individual hen recognition can deliver reliable management information on mean body weight and flock‐uniformity in aviary systems if the weighing scales are located on the feeding tier in the middle of the house and if they are used during the light‐period. 相似文献
2. The experimental diets, containing two concentrations (50 or 100 g/kg) of high‐ or low‐glucosinolate rapeseed meal and a diet, devoid of rapeseed meal, all supplemented with 0.3 mg I/kg were given to laying hens for 6 weeks before oral administration of 125I daily for 11d.
3. The percentage of 125I transferred to egg yolk was significantly reduced by the inclusion of high‐glucosinolate rapeseed meal but not by low‐glucosinolate meal.
4. Determination of the total iodine content of egg yolk indicated that there was some reduction in the transfer of dietary iodine to eggs even with the low glucosinolate rapeseed meal. 相似文献
2. The taint was due to the inclusion of either 25 or 70 g Icelandic capelin fishmeal/kg of the diet.
3. Babcock hens produced significantly more (17%) tainted eggs than Warrens (1.2%).
4. Tainted eggs were significantly reduced to a very low proportion (1.3%) by the third day of feeding a fishmeal‐free diet.
5. The taint was due to the presence of up to 17 mg/trimethylamine kg in affected eggs. 相似文献
2.?Factor activities decreased when lipids were depleted from the plasma of Single Comb White Leghorn (SCWL) and Fatty Liver Haemorrhagic Syndrome-susceptible (FLHS) laying hens.
3.?Addition of lipids removed from SCWL laying hens and FLHS-susceptible laying hens into lipid-depleted plasma of both bird strains caused an increase and decrease, respectively, in Factors V and X activities.
4.?Omega-3 fatty acids were negatively correlated to Factors V, VII and X activities. When bird strain was considered, it was significant for Factor X in SCWL laying hens. Omega-6 fatty acids were positively correlated with Factors VII and X for FLHS-susceptible laying hens.
5.?The results suggest that the type of fatty acid in plasma phospholipids influences the activities of Factors V, VII and X and by altering lipid composition in the plasma, activities of coagulation factors may be affected. 相似文献
2. The rate of lay in both strains was lower in the older hens. The 82‐week‐old hens were subdivided into good and poor layers: the poor layers produced eggs at about half the rate of the good layers.
3. The yellow‐yolky ovarian follicles in both strains were smaller, more numerous and more closely ranked in hierarchies in 26‐week‐old hens than in 82‐week‐old hens.
4. No marked differences were seen between the strains at 26 or 82 weeks of age in the sizes, numbers or hierarchical arrangements of yellow‐yolky ovarian follicles.
5. The ovaries from 82‐week‐old good and poor layers from both strains contained similar numbers of yellow‐yolky follicles.
6. After feeding a fat‐soluble dye, the number of days over which eggs containing dye were laid did not differ between 26‐, 52‐ and 113‐week‐old hens from an egg laying strain. However, fewer eggs with dyed yolks were laid by the older hens.
7. These observations suggest that the decrease in egg production with age is due initially to a reduction in the rate of recruitment of yellow‐yolky follicles. Towards the end of the laying year it may also be due to an increased incidence of follicular atresia, internal ovulation and the production of membraneous or soft shelled eggs. 相似文献
2. Groundnut meal, groundnut meal adjusted with indispensable amino acids or sesame meal supplied the dietary CP at 180 g/kg diet. Increments of lysine (1.5 g/kg diet) were added to each of these diets.
3. The gain, food intake and food efficiency responses of broiler chicks were analysed using a quadratic equation and a two‐slope method. An estimate of lysine requirements was also obtained from a survey of college students.
4. The different methods produced widely different estimates of lysine requirement.
5. The average lysine requirement was estimated at 50.1 g lysine/kg CP for groundnut meal, 61.7 for adjusted groundnut meal and 54.9 for sesame meal.
6. Reasons for the effect of statistical analysis and protein source on lysine requirement are discussed. 相似文献
2. Discolouration prevention methods included treating the meal with ferrous sulphate heptahydrate (FSH), in solution or as crystals, at a 4:1 weight ratio of iron to free gossypol (experiment 1), and reducing its residual lipid (CSL) content to 4.2 g/kg by hexane extraction (experiment 2).
3. In freshly laid eggs, no discolouration was observed when hens were fed a CSM‐based diet containing 250 mg free gossypol/kg and 87 mg CPFA/kg in experiment 1, but slightly brown yolks were produced in experiment 2.
4. Storage of the eggs at 22°C led to yolk mottling, an effect believed to be the initial stages of the brown yolk discolouration.
5. Storage of the eggs at 5°C resulted in enhancement of the brown yolk discolouration, apricot discolouration on surfaces of most yolks and pink albumen discolouration. These effects were prevented when the CSM was extracted with hexane. Apricot yolk and pink albumen discolourations were also produced when hens were fed a non‐CSM diet containing crude CSL at 20.5 g/kg.
6. Dietary CSL increased egg fat saturation, altering the ratios of stearic to oleic, palmitic to palmitoleic and heptadecanoic to hepta‐decenoic fatty acids.
7. Treatment of CSM with FSH reduced the slight brown yolk discolouration in fresh eggs (experiment 2) and the yolk mottling in warm‐stored eggs. Both in solution and as crystals, FSH prevented the enhancement of brown yolk discolouration in cold‐stored eggs, leaving most eggs with apricot yolk and pink albumen discolourations.
8. Treatment of CSM and CSL with FSH reduced the CPFA‐related effects on yolk fat saturation, and the colour and pH changes in cold‐stored eggs.
9. Exposure of yolks to ammonia vapour provided a useful test to predict the development of the gossypol‐related brown discolouration in stored eggs. 相似文献
2. Because the traditional method of determination of droppings digestibility coefficients of nitrogen may lead to systematic errors in estimating the feeding value of foodstuffs, a method is proposed to determine the ileal digestibility coefficients. The ileal method is compared with the droppings method for a mixed food and for two foodstuffs: wheat and solvent‐extracted soyabean meal.
3. Birds selected for efficient food conversion showed distinctly higher digestibility coefficients for all nutrients than birds selected for high growth potential or birds from a commercial strain.
4. The influence of age on digestibility coefficients was not consistent.
5. Female birds showed digestibility coefficients which were, in general, 3% higher than those of male chickens.
6. Interactions between genotype and sex and between genotype and age for energy metabolisability were the only interactions observed for digestibility measurements.
7. The method of determination influenced the amino acid digestibility coefficients of the mixed food and the relative feeding values of wheat and soyabean meal.
8. It is important to use well defined animals (genotype, sex, age) in evaluating foodstuffs.
9. The preferred method for determination of digestibility coefficients of nitrogen and amino acids is based on ileal sampling, although the differences in amino acid digestibility coefficients were small between methods. 相似文献
2. Almost 20 different genotypes (brands) were present on the farms. In France, all birds were brown feathered hens laying brown eggs. In Switzerland and The Netherlands, there were brown, white (white feathered hens laying white eggs) and silver (white feathered hens laying brown eggs) hens. In Switzerland, mixed flocks were also present.
3. The overall effect of system (organic vs. conventional free range) on egg production and mortality was significant, with higher mortality and lower egg production among organic hens. In pair wise comparisons within country, the difference was highly significant in The Netherlands, and showed a non-significant tendency in the same direction in Switzerland and France.
4. White hens tended to perform better than brown hens. Silver hens appeared to have a higher mortality and lower production per hen housed at 60 weeks of age.
5. There were no significant relationships between production, mortality, feather condition and use of outside run or with flock size.
6. There was more variation in mortality and egg production among farms with a small flock size than among farms with a large flock size. 相似文献
2. Treatments did not affect egg numbers, food consumption, conversion efficiency of food to egg, bodyweight gain or mortality.
3. Increasing dietary calcium (Ca) significantly increased plasma Ca and inorganic phosphorus (P), breaking strength at the radius and egg specific gravity and significantly decreased plasma alkaline phosphatase and egg weight.
4. Increasing dietary phosphorus increased plasma P and decreased egg specific gravity significantly.
5. Plasma Ca, P and alkaline phosphatase and radius breaking strength were suitable indices of the Ca status of the hens. 相似文献
2. In the first experiment the diets contained 0, 8 (with and without supplementary methionine, lysine, or methionine and lysine) or 16% lupin meal: addition of the lupin meal required a concomitant addition of 5 % rapeseed meal (by computer selection).
3. The diets were fed from 38 to 65 d and did not affect live‐weight but the efficiency of food utilisation was significantly worse on the 16 % lupin, 5% rapeseed meal diet than it was on the control diet.
4. The second experiment was designed as a 2 x 4 factorial to separate any effect due to rapeseed meal from that due to lupin meal, the treatments, which were applied from 1 to 62 d, being 0, 8, 16 and 24% lupin meal with and without 5 % rapeseed meal.
5. Birds gained more rapidly in the second experiment on diets containing 16 or 24% lupin meal whereas live‐weight was depressed when 5% rapeseed meal was included in the diets containing 0 or 8% lupin.
6. The 16 and 24% lupin treatments also had added dietary fat from 6 to 9 weeks of age and this may have ameliorated the adverse effect of rapeseed meal.
7. Up to 16% lupin meal and 5% rapeseed meal had no detectable effect on the colour, appearance, flavour or texture of roasted chicken meat when evaluated by a trained taste panel. 相似文献
2. The total number of yolks laid to 40 weeks was comparable with that of a control line selected for high egg number.
3. At peak production an F1 cross of the two inbred lines laid 140 yolks per hundred hens per day.
4. Double‐yolk selected lines when crossed produced hens with a 20% increased body weight.
5. By the 10th and 11th generations the incidence of eggs with three or four yolks was increasing. 相似文献
2. Photoperiod treatments consisted of computer simulations of day lengths which occur naturally in the spring and autumn of the year. Both photoperiod treatments were given to hens in the autumn and spring.
3. Data were collected for growth evaluations at 2‐ to 4‐week intervals to 16 weeks of age. No significant season × photoperiod interactions occurred.
4. The spring trial resulted in greater body weights and better food conversions (food/gain) than the autumn trial.
5. Simulated autumn daylengths resulted in greater body weights and improved food efficiency at 16 weeks of age compared with simulated spring daylengths.
6. The pattern of growth (period changes) was influenced by season, but not photoperiod.
7. Season and photoperiod both have important and independent influences on the growth of the turkey hen. 相似文献