Rearing cage type and dietary limestone particle size: II, effects on egg production, eggshell, and bone quality in Lohmann selected Leghorn-Lite hens

Abstract

We investigated effects of rearing cage type and dietary limestone particle size (LPS) on egg production, egg weight, eggshell, and bone quality in laying hens. The pullets were reared in conventional (CON; 20 chicks/cage, 270 cm2/chick) or furnished (FUR; 30 chicks/cage; 636 cm2/chick) cages and fed 3 LPS (fine, 0.05) between rearing cage type and dietary LPS on response variables. At 19 and 20 woa, HDEP was higher (P 0.05) afterward. At 40 woa, FUR reared hens had higher (P 0.05) on HDEP, BW, EW, and eggshell quality. Although, rearing dietary LPS did not affect (P > 0.05) femur and tibia BMD and BMC; at 24 woa, hens reared on medium LPS tended to have higher femur BMD (0.17 vs. 0.14 g/cm2; P = 0.079) and BMC (0.99 vs.0.78 g; P = 0.088) than hens reared on fine LPS. In conclusion, hens reared in furnished cages had better eggshell quality but had marginal effects on femur and tibia quality, whereas rearing dietary LPS had no effects on eggshell and bone attributes in hens.

Keywords

• bone quality
• rearing housing
• rearing limestone particle size
• egg production
• eggshell quality