The Impact of Laying Hen Age, Egg-Laying Time, Cage Tier, and Cage Direction on Egg Quality Traits in Hens in an Enriched Cage System

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study determined the effect of layer age, egg-laying time, cage tier, and cage direction (outward-inward) on egg quality parameters of commercial layer chickens reared in enriched cages. A total of 944 layers (approximately 100 eggs every four weeks, from the 26 to the 58th week) obtained from Lohmann LSL-Classic layers reared at the Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University Ayhan Şahenk Agricultural Application and Research Centre were analyzed. Laying hen age significantly affected all the egg quality variables (p0.05). Furthermore, it was found that cage direction had a significant effect on egg weight, shell thickness, egg surface area, and all the internal egg quality traits, except for yolk color score (p<0.05; p<0.01). In conclusion, our results highlight significant changes in egg quality traits due to layer age, egg-laying time, cage tier, and cage direction.

Keywords

• Laying hens
• enriched cage system
• egg quality traits
• egg-laying time
• cage positioning