Effect of restricted feeding on hen performance, egg quality and organ characteristics of individual laying hens

Abstract

This study was to assess the impact of permanent or temporary restricted feeding on laying hen production traits, physiology, and egg quality. Two hundred and forty individually housed ISA Brown hens were monitored across 2 phases, assigned to 3 treatments: ad libitum feeding (ALF), temporary restricted feeding (TRF) and permanent restricted feeding (PRF), n ¼ 80 hens per treatment. In Phase 1 (P1), 22 to 40 weeks, the TRF and PRF hens were offered 115 g of feed daily. In Phase 2 (P2), 41 to 46 weeks, the TRF hens were transitioned to ALF status while the ALF and PRF hens remained as in P1. From 35 to 40 weeks, eggs were collected once weekly from 15 hens per treatment and assessed for differences in albumen, yolk, and shell variables. At 45 weeks, 10 hens each from the ALF and PRF groups were euthanized and differences in organ characteristics were assessed. In P1, feed intake, feed to egg conversion ratio and body weight (BW) change were lower (P < 0.01), while albumen height and Haugh unit were higher (P < 0.01) in both PRF and TRF hen treatments compared to hens allocated the ALF treatment. In P2, TRF and ALF hens had a higher egg production and egg mass than PRF (P < 0.01) than ALF. Body weight change in P2 was higher in TRF and similar in both ALF and PRF, while feed intake and feed conversion ratio were higher in TRF followed by ALF and least in the PRF treatment group (P < 0.01). At 45 weeks ALF hens had a greater abdominal fat pad weight and fatty liver haemorrhagic syndrome lesion score compared to PRF. Restricting hens to 115 g of feed per day from point of lay restrained BW, improved feed conversion ratio and albumen quality and reduced abdominal fat pad deposition and clinical signs of fatty liver haemorrhagic syndrome in individually housed laying hens.