The quality comparison of eggs laid by laying hens kept in battery cages and in a deep litter system

Abstract

At present there are important changes in housing systems in laying hen husbandry. Henceforward, only alternative husbandry systems shall be allowed, among which deep litter systems can be included. Therefore, many authors are engaged in the investigation of alternative systems, their advantages and disadvantages.Savory (2004) stated that from the welfare viewpoint cage systems were burdened with a lack of space for laying hens, however, conversely they ensured the better health status of laying hens. Petermann (2003) concluded that alternative aviary systems with deep litter were burdened with higher mortality of laying hens. De Boer and Cornelissen (2002) considered battery cages to be more favourable than aviary systems, in particular from the viewpoint of stock economics, ammonia emission, egg quality and farmer welfare. Duncan (2001) analysed advantages and disadvantages of battery cage systems. He considered the low incidence of diseases, low incidence of social frictions, and the absence of problems resulting from litter as the main advantages. The disadvantages were found to be a lack of both physical and psychological space for laying hens, lack of space for daily activities and nesting and dust bathing opportunities, and a higher incidence of foot lesions. Cooper and Albentosa (2003) ABSTRACT: At present the laying hen rearing is transformed into alternative housing systems which include a deep litter system. As for the poultry nutrition, the replacement of animal protein with vegetable protein in poultry feed is applied. Therefore, in an experiment we evaluated the quality of eggs from laying hens in the cage system as compared to the deep litter system with vegetable protein substituted for animal protein in their feed. 72 ISA Brown laying hens were placed into the experiment. 36 laying hens were kept in the deep litter system and 36 laying hens were kept in conventional cages for laying hens. For the period of 9 months, 36 eggs from the group in the deep litter system were examined, always at intervals of five weeks (i.e. 8 × 36 eggs) and so were 36 eggs from the group in the cage system (i.e. 8 × 36 eggs). We found out that in the deep litter system the mean egg weight was higher (P < 0.01), shell weight was lower (P < 0.01), egg albumen was higher (P < 0.01), yolk weight did not differ (P > 0.05), yolk cholesterol was higher (P < 0.01), yolk colour was darker (P < 0.05), shell strength did not differ (P > 0.05), all in comparison with the cage system of laying hen keeping. The results of the experiment show that where vegetable protein was substituted for animal protein in the nutrition of laying hens, there were differences in the quality of eggs from laying hens kept in the deep litter system and eggs from laying hens kept in the cage system.

Interaction between housing system and genotype in relation to internal and external egg quality parameters

“…In the first experiment darker yolks were produced in cages while in the second these were from hens on litter. The results of the second experiment, where darker yolk colour was in eggs from litter, are in agreement with those of Sűto et al (1997), Pištěková et al (2006) and Singh et al (2009). The yolk colour depends mainly on pigments in feed but the same feed mixtures were used in both experiments.…”

“…Data from a number of studies revealed differences in egg quality depending on the housing system. Moorthy et al (2000), Leyendecker et al (2001a) and Jenderal et al (2004) reported higher egg weights in cages, while Tůmová and Ebeid (2005), Pištěková et al (2006), Zemková et al (2007) found out heavier eggs on litter. Quality traits such as egg shell thickness, Haugh unit score and yolk index were reported to be higher in cages than on litter (Roland et al, 1997;Moorthy et al, 2000;Tůmová and Ebeid, 2005;Lichovníková and Zeman, 2008).…”

Impact of different housing systems and age of layers on egg quality characteristics

“…Some studies indicated that egg weight was higher in cage systems than in floor systems or free-range systems (10). However, in some other studies, heavier eggs were found in litter systems than in cages (11,12). In the present study, eggs from the FR system were heavier than those from the CC and EC systems.…”

Differences in the eggshell quality and tibia strength in Lohmann White and Czech Hen housed in cages and on litter

“…Several studies were done in order to evaluate the effect of housing systems on eggshell quality including cages and litter systems, and to indicate which housing system is more effective for better eggshell quality. Pištěková et al (2006), Zemková et al (2007) and Singh et al (2009) detected heavier eggs on litter, whereas Moorthy et al (2000), Leyendecker et al (2001a); Lichovníková and Zeman (2008) and Tůmová et al (2011) found heavier eggs in cages. Hidalgo et al (2008) showed the effect of housing on the eggshell thickness and the strength, they stated that the shell thickness was the lowest in eggs produced in cages, while barn eggs presented the highest values.…”

“…Hidalgo et al (2008) showed the effect of housing on the eggshell thickness and the strength, they stated that the shell thickness was the lowest in eggs produced in cages, while barn eggs presented the highest values. On the other hand, Pištěková et al (2006) suggested that difference in the shell strength in eggs from deep litter system and in eggs from cage system was not found statistically significant. Pores density was higher in cage system than on litter (Tůmová et al, 2011).…”