Assessing the response of hen weight, body composition, feather score, egg quality, and level of excreta nitrogen content to digestible balanced protein intake of laying hens

Kumar, D. Srinivas; Raginski, C.; Schwean-Lardner, K.; Classen, H. L.

doi:10.1139/cjas-2017-0134

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…Deficiencies in dietary lysine alone have been associated with FP. Kumar et al (2018) fed several levels of dietary lysine to laying hens and measured their plumage over time (Figure 3). In total, five areas (neck, back, vent, wings and breast) were scored with each measurement a score from 1 (completely featherless) to 4 (fully feathered) at 27, 47 and 66 weeks of age.…”

Section: Dietary Protein and Amino Acidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Effect of lysine intake level (mg/hen/day) on mean cumulative feather score from 1 (completely featherless) to 4 (fully feathered) at five body areas: neck, back, vent, wings and breast, of laying hens fed different dietary lysine levels at 27 (black), 47 (striped) and 66 (dotted) weeks of age. Adapted from Kumar et al (2018).…”

Section: Dietary Protein and Amino Acidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Nutritional approaches to reduce or prevent feather pecking in laying hens: any potential to intervene during rearing?

Mens

Krimpen

Kwakkel

2020

World's Poultry Science Journal

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Feather pecking (FP) by laying hens is a significant welfare issue in the poultry industry. Pecking at and pulling out feathers of conspecifics can seriously reduce the well-being of birds and causes economic losses for the farmer. Records of FP in laying hen flocks from the last 20 years show a prevalence of between 24% and 94%. Several research groups worldwide have hypothesised about the causes of FP. From a nutritional point of view, redirected behaviour and feather eating seem to be the most plausible causes. The gut microbiome seems to be involved in FP due to its influence on hormonal pathways and as it is influenced by the diet, which might include feathers ingested by the hens. Bird experiences during the rearing period are related to FP in later life by possible effects on the physiological development of the pullets. Most likely, pullets experience a sensitive period within the first few weeks post-hatch during which FP can develop due to various factors such as hormonal influences, nutrition and (the lack of) environmental enrichment. Nutrition could influence FP in two ways. Imbalances in certain nutrients, such as amino acids may have a direct effect on physiological mechanisms that trigger FP. Furthermore, ingredients such as roughages, fibres and non-nutritive ingredients may have an effect on exploratory and foraging or feeding behaviour. Literature (mainly in adult layers) shows that nutritional interventions increased eating time by 23-45% and/or the mean retention time of feed in the gut by 2.9-6.0 min/g fibre, and reduced or delayed FP. Using nutritional strategies (i.e. provision of specific AA profiles and/or high fibrous ingredients) during the sensitive period during rearing could prevent ultimately the development of FP, by altering the pullets' (gut) physiology and/or her time allocation. Research focussing on critical periods during rearing should be initiated.

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Section: Dietary Protein and Amino Acidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Dietary Protein and Amino Acidsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nutritional approaches to reduce or prevent feather pecking in laying hens: any potential to intervene during rearing?

Mens

Krimpen

Kwakkel

2020

World's Poultry Science Journal

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“…The eggs collected with cracked shells, prior to handling, were only considered to analyze this parameter. Studies have shown that egg shell quality (egg specific gravity) decreases with increasing EW as a result of increased daily dietary protein or AA consumption by laying hens (Gunawardana et al 2008b;Kumar et al 2018).…”

Section: Egg Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the performance response of laying hens to intake levels of digestible balanced protein from 27 to 66 wk of age

et al. 2018

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Laying hens continue to improve in egg production (EP) and feed efficiency (FE), and therefore, it is relevant to re-examine their digestible balanced protein (BP) requirements. From 27 to 66 wk of age, hens (Lohmann-LSL Lite) were fed diets designed to provide 550, 625, 700, 775, or 850 mg hen −1 d −1 of amino acid balanced digestible lysine (Dlys). Response criteria included EP, egg weight (EW), feed intake (FI), mortality, egg mass (EM), egg size classifications, FE (kg feed kg −1 EM), and lysine efficiency (LE; mg Dlys g −1 EM). The experiment was a completely randomized design, and data were analyzed using regression analysis. Differences were considered significant if P ≤ 0.05. Hen-day (HD) EP, EW, EM, FI, and LE increased and FE and mortality decreased in a quadratic fashion with increasing Dlys intake, while the proportion of cracked eggs increased linearly. Egg size classifications increased linearly (jumbo, extra-large) and quadratically (large) or decreased in a quadratic manner (medium, small) with increasing Dlys intake. Maximum HDEP, EW, and EM, and minimum FE were achieved at 769, 903, 836, and 839 mg hen −1 d −1 intake of Dlys, respectively. In conclusion, the digestible BP requirement of laying hens varies with response criteria.

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“…Feathers contain approximately 90% of protein, therefore the optimal ratios of limiting amino acids, in particular the sulfur-containing amino acids methionine (Met) and cystine (Cys), are indicated as necessary for the synthesis of feather keratin [ 4 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 ]. The sulfur-containing amino acid Cys is the major amino acid involved in the synthesis of feather keratin, which suggests a high dietary requirement of this amino acid [ 1 , 14 , 15 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plumage Response of Young Turkeys to Diets with Increased Methionine to Lysine Ratios at Three Dietary Arginine Levels

Mróz¹,

Jankowski²,

Skowroński³

et al. 2022

Animals

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A 2 × 3 factorial experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of two dietary methionine levels (Met; 30% and 45% of Lys content) and three arginine levels (Arg; 90%, 100%, and 110% of Lys content) on plumage development in 4- and 16-week-old female turkeys. One-day-old turkey poults were assigned to six groups (eight replicate pens per group and 18 birds per pen) and fed experimental diets containing 1.6%, 1.5%, 1.3%, and 1.0% of Lys in four successive four-week periods. After weeks 4 and 16 of feeding, eight turkeys per group were selected for plumage evaluation. Feathers were collected from the outer side of one thigh and from an area of 4 cm2 in the interscapular region. Plumage was evaluated based on an established pattern of five feather development stages in turkeys, from stage I (pinfeathers covered in sheaths) to stage V (mature feathers). An increase in the Met inclusion rate to 45% of Lys content had no significant effect on feather growth in 4-week-old turkeys, but it accelerated the development of feathers in 16-week-old birds. A lower percentage of stage II (p = 0.035), stage III (p = 0.019), and stage IV (p = 0.003) immature feathers, and a higher percentage of stage V (mature) feathers (p = 0.001) were observed. Methionine exerted a greater effect on the development of thigh feathers (p = 0.001) than interscapular feathers (p = 0.074). Unlike Met, different Arg concentrations had no influence on plumage development in turkeys. Overall, the present results indicate that supplemental Met has a potential for accelerating feather development in 16-week-old turkeys via an increased supply of total sulfur amino acids.

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Assessing the response of hen weight, body composition, feather score, egg quality, and level of excreta nitrogen content to digestible balanced protein intake of laying hens

Cited by 8 publications

References 54 publications

Nutritional approaches to reduce or prevent feather pecking in laying hens: any potential to intervene during rearing?

Nutritional approaches to reduce or prevent feather pecking in laying hens: any potential to intervene during rearing?

Assessing the performance response of laying hens to intake levels of digestible balanced protein from 27 to 66 wk of age

Plumage Response of Young Turkeys to Diets with Increased Methionine to Lysine Ratios at Three Dietary Arginine Levels

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