Salmonella Typhimurium is among the most common causes of bacterial foodborne gastrointestinal disease in humans. Food items containing raw or undercooked eggs are frequently identified during traceback investigation as the source of the bacteria. La...
Outbreaks of avian influenza (AI) and other highly contagious poultry diseases continue to be a concern for those involved in the poultry industry. In the situation of an outbreak, emergency depopulation of the birds involved is necessary. In this pr...
During the 2014–2015 US highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak, 50.4 million commercial layers and turkeys were affected, resulting in economic losses of $3.3 billion. Rapid depopulation of infected poultry is vital to contain and eradicat...
This study evaluates the effects of dietary selenium (Se) sources—sodium selenite (SS), nano-selenium (Nano-Se), selenocysteine (Se-C), and selenomethionine (Se-Met)—on production performance, egg quality, preservation characteristics, yo...
Egg production is a vital biological and economic trait for poultry breeding. The ‘hypothalamic–pituitary–ovarian (HPO) axis’ determines the egg production, which affects the layer hens industry income. At the organism level,...
The feeding of high-energy and low-protein diets often induces fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS) in laying hens. However, the mechanism of hepatic fat accumulation in hens with FLHS remains uncertain. In this research, a comprehensive hepatic p...
This study aimed to investigate the effects of different supplemental amounts of dandelion flavonoid extracts (DFE) in diets on nutrients in chicken, slaughtering performance, blood biochemical indexes and antioxidant capacity of spent laying hens. A...
Both genetic background and maternal care can have a strong influence on cognitive and emotional development. To investigate these effects and their possible interaction, White Leghorn (LH) and Brown Nick (BN) chicks, two hybrid lines of layer hen co...
Despite the importance of eggs in the human diet, and unlike other products, for which food safety risks are widely investigated, information on the occurrence of Campylobacter and antimicrobial resistance in eggs and layer hen flocks is lacking in T...
Consumer demand for retail cage-free eggs is driving the layer industry towards greater use of extensive housing environments. However, there is limited research on how these environments affect egg production characteristics of brown egg layers, as...
This study investigated the laying performance, egg quality, and egg yolk fatty acids (FAs) and cholesterol content in layer hens housed with free access to chicory- and/or white clover-vegetated areas. During a 16-week study, 400 Lohmann Brown hens...
Chicken infectious anemia (CIA) poses a significant threat to the chicken industry in China. Due to its non-specific symptoms, the disease is often overlooked. This study aimed to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the etiology and pathology of CIA...
The avian inner perivitelline layer (IPVL), containing the zona pellucida (ZP) family of proteins, surrounds the ovulated ovum. In mammalian species, ZP proteins serve as key component(s) in binding sperm and initiating the acrosome reaction. Sperm b...
Spotty liver disease (SLD), primarily caused by Campylobacter hepaticus and (less frequently) by Campylobacter bilis, significantly impacts commercial layer hens by causing liver lesions, reducing egg production, and increasing mortality, meaning it...
Egg laying genotypes have been selected for generations due to their high yield and egg quality, resulting in efficient feed utilization and low body weight; hence, they are not suitable for meat production. This imposes an issue for the male layer c...
Globally, Campylobacter is a significant contributor to gastroenteritis. Efficient pathogens are qualified by their virulence power, resistance to antibiotics and epidemic spread. However, the correlation between antimicrobial resistance (AR) and the...
Limited published data areavailable on the current DLys requirements of Hy-Line Silver-Brown layers. The effects of energy (AMEn) and standardized ileal digestible lysine (DLys) concentration on the performance of Hy-Line Silver-Brown layers were stu...
Regenerative, pasture-raised layer hen systems create synergistic relationships between the hens, forage, soil, and weather, fostering a sustainable system. However, the influence of these factors on egg nutrient profile and quality may vary by regio...
Maintaining respiratory tract health is crucial for layers, impacting gut health, laying performance, and egg quality. Viral diseases and standard vaccinations can compromise tracheal epithelium function, leading to oxidative stress. This study asses...
To address uneven temperature and relative humidity distributions, localized heat accumulation, and insufficient air velocity in an enclosed stacked-cage laying hen house, a three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the laying hen...
As for all birds, the behavior of chickens is largely determined by environmental conditions. In many production systems, light intensity is low and red feather strains have low contrast with the background, making it impossible to use conventional i...
The aim of the study was to determine the effect of marinating with fermented milk products (buttermilk and sour milk) on the physical characteristics, microbiological quality, and sensory acceptability of Rhode Island Red (RIR) hen meat after the fi...
Assessment of animal welfare can include analysis of physiological parameters, as well as behavior and health. Levels of adrenocortical hormones such as cortisol (and corticosterone in chickens) have been relied on as indicators of stress. Elevations...
Soybean meal has traditionally dominated poultry diets as the protein source. However, its widespread use raises concerns regarding economic costs, environmental impact and social sustainability. As a result, there is growing interest in alternative...
Management choices during the pullet phase can affect behavior, welfare, and health later in life, but few studies have evaluated the pullet phase, particularly in extensive housing systems. This study was a 2 × 2 factorial randomized complete...
Flaxseed contains huge quantities of anti-nutritional factors (ANFs), which reduce the performance of livestock. Three different protease and multi-carbohydrase enzymes were included in wheat-flaxseed diets (WFD) and corn-flaxseed diets (CFD) to comp...
The gastrointestinal tract microbiome is essential for regulating nutrient absorption, gut immune function, and host growth and development. In the present study, we characterized the development of ileum and cecum microbiota in pullets throughout th...
This study aimed to examine the effect of probiotics containing Bacillus subtilis and oregano essential oil on the growth performance, intestinal morphology, and cecal microbial composition in pullets aged 0–18 weeks. A total of 324 day-old Hy-...
This research evaluated the impact of incorporating dried olive pulp (OP) into the feed of laying hens on the fatty acid profile, cholesterol, triglyceride, total phenolic, oleuropein and hydroxytyrosol content, and health lipid indices of eggs produ...
Identifying poor-laying hens is important for reducing feed waste, but visual screening is labor-intensive. Motivated by the relationship between laying status and pigmentation, we propose CHIC (Color-Histogram Integrated Classifier), a lightweight m...
Heat stress poses a significant challenge to egg production in layer hens. High temperatures can disrupt the physiological functions of these birds, leading to reduced egg production and lower egg quality. This study evaluated the microclimate of lay...
Dual-purpose strains, with hens housed for egg laying and roosters kept for meat production are one alternative to the killing of male day-old chickens. However, dual-purpose hens seem to have additional advantages compared to conventional layers, fo...
The housing environment has become a critical issue for consumers of eggs and egg products. Therefore, it is imperative to understand how various housing environments can affect the modern laying hen. In this study, alongside the 40th NC layer perfor...
Spirulina platensisis (SP) is a blue-green microalgae with a high value for animal and poultry nutrition. The study employed 250 40-week-old, HY-Line W-36 commercial laying hens. The layers received one of five experimental diet substitutes in five g...
Natural mating colony cages for layer breeders have become commonplace for layer breeders in China. However, feather pecking (FP) and cannibalism are prominent in this system. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of four light-e...
Multiple studies have yielded conflicting findings regarding the impact of incorporating triticale as a feed ingredient on laying hens’ production parameters. This article used a meta-analysis to assess the factors influencing its effects on la...
Agriculture accounts for 10 to 12% of the World’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Manure management alone is responsible for 13% of GHG emissions from the agricultural sector. During the last decade, Québec’s egg production systems have shifted...
The present study compared the fatty acid profile and some physical parameters of eggs from hens reared according to the organic system at the beginning of the first and second laying cycle. A total of 1080 eggs were analysed at the beginning of the...
To evaluate the nutrient load due to the grazing of laying hens in outdoor runs, monitoring of soil characteristics was conducted in three Italian organic farms. For each farm, soil samples were taken from three increasing distances from the hen hous...
Vaccination is the most important way to control infectious bronchitis (IB) in chickens. Since the end of 2015, the Delmarva (DMV)/1639 strain of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV) has caused significant damage to the layer flocks in Eastern Canada. T...
Stocking densities for domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) are regulated by the Council Directives of the European Union for both laying hens and broiler chickens. For layer pullets no regulation of stocking density has been established yet....
This experiment studied the effect of DPP supplementation in the laying hens’ diet on the ovarian follicle development, hematological variables and hormonal profile of laying hens. Eighty-four, 78-week-old, Lohman LSL hybrids layers were equall...
Keel bone damage is an important animal welfare problem in laying hens. Two generations of four layer lines, differing in phylogenetic background and performance level and kept in single cages or floor pens were weighed and scored for keel bone defor...
The feeding behavior of laying hens is closely related to their health and welfare status. In large-scale breeding farms, monitoring the feeding behavior of hens can effectively improve production management. However, manual monitoring is not only ti...
Our study objective was to determine the apparent metabolizable energy (AME) and apparent ileal amino acid digestibility (AIAAD) of spirulina fed to broiler chickens and laying hens using the difference method. In both experiments, birds were either...
The present research was defined to evaluate the residual feed intake (RFI) of white and brown groups of aged layers, between 85 to 90 weeks of age. A completely randomized design was used, with two treatments and 15 replicates, of one hen per replic...
Uniformity in hen and egg traits is an important consideration in commercial layer flocks. There is little information on how individual hen feed consumption and body weight affect egg quality measurements. This study investigated the variation in pe...
Depopulation of infected poultry flocks is a key strategy to control and contain reportable diseases. Water-based foam, carbon dioxide inhalation, and ventilation shutdown are depopulation methods available to the poultry industry. Unfortunately, the...
Laying hens require lighting for proper development and reproduction. There is limited research on the effects that lighting types have on birds’ welfare quality. A novel lighting source, Pulsed Alternating Wavelength System (PAWS), is being ev...
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: RI...
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