Comparison of Changes in the Plumage and Body Condition, Egg Production, and Mortality of Different Non-Beak-Trimmed Pure Line Laying Hens during the Egg-Laying Period
Gábor Milisits,
Sándor Szász,
Tamás Donkó,
Zoltán Budai,
Anita Almási,
Olga Pőcze,
Jolán Ujvári,
Tamás Péter Farkas,
Erik Garamvölgyi,
Péter Horn,
Zoltán Sütő
Affiliations
Gábor Milisits
Institute of Animal Science, Kaposvár Campus, Szent István University, Guba Sándor Street 40, 7400 Kaposvár, Hungary
Sándor Szász
Institute of Animal Science, Kaposvár Campus, Szent István University, Guba Sándor Street 40, 7400 Kaposvár, Hungary
Tamás Donkó
Medicopus Nonprofit Ltd., Guba Sándor Street 40, 7400 Kaposvár, Hungary
Zoltán Budai
Bábolna TETRA Ltd., Radnóti Miklós Street 16, 2943 Bábolna, Hungary
Anita Almási
Bábolna TETRA Ltd., Radnóti Miklós Street 16, 2943 Bábolna, Hungary
Olga Pőcze
Institute of Animal Science, Kaposvár Campus, Szent István University, Guba Sándor Street 40, 7400 Kaposvár, Hungary
Jolán Ujvári
Institute of Animal Science, Kaposvár Campus, Szent István University, Guba Sándor Street 40, 7400 Kaposvár, Hungary
Tamás Péter Farkas
Institute of Animal Science, Kaposvár Campus, Szent István University, Guba Sándor Street 40, 7400 Kaposvár, Hungary
Erik Garamvölgyi
Institute of Animal Science, Kaposvár Campus, Szent István University, Guba Sándor Street 40, 7400 Kaposvár, Hungary
Péter Horn
Institute of Animal Science, Kaposvár Campus, Szent István University, Guba Sándor Street 40, 7400 Kaposvár, Hungary
Zoltán Sütő
Institute of Animal Science, Kaposvár Campus, Szent István University, Guba Sándor Street 40, 7400 Kaposvár, Hungary
The experiment was carried out with altogether 1740 non-beak-trimmed laying hens, which originated from Bábolna TETRA Ltd., representing two different types (Rhode Island Red (RIR) and Rhode Island White (RIW)) and four different lines (Lines 1–2: RIR, Lines 3–4: RIW). The plumage and body condition of randomly selected 120 hens (30 hens/line) was examined at 20, 46, and 62 weeks of age. The egg production and the mortality of the sampled hens were recorded daily. Based on the results, it was established that the lines differ clearly in most of the examined traits. It was also pointed out that injurious pecking of the hens resulted not only in damages in the plumage but also in the body condition. The results obviously demonstrated that the highest egg production and the lowest mortality rate were reached by those hens, which had the best plumage and body condition. Because the occurrence of injurious pecking seems to depend on the genetic background, selection of the hens (lines, families, individuals) for calm temperament will be very important in the future in order to maintain the high production level in non-beak-trimmed layer flocks.
