Managing Free-Range Laying Hens—Part A: Frequent and Non-Frequent Range Users Differ in Laying Performance but Not Egg Quality
Little is known about the impact of ranging on laying performance and egg quality of free-range hens. The aim of this study was to characterise egg production of commercial free-range laying hen sub-populations of low-, moderate- and high-range use at an early age. A total of five flocks with 40,000...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2020-06-01
|
| Series: | Animals |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/6/991 |
| _version_ | 1827715526997049344 |
|---|---|
| author | Terence Zimazile Sibanda Manisha Kolakshyapati Mitchell Welch Derek Schneider Johan Boshoff Isabelle Ruhnke |
| author_facet | Terence Zimazile Sibanda Manisha Kolakshyapati Mitchell Welch Derek Schneider Johan Boshoff Isabelle Ruhnke |
| author_sort | Terence Zimazile Sibanda |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Little is known about the impact of ranging on laying performance and egg quality of free-range hens. The aim of this study was to characterise egg production of commercial free-range laying hen sub-populations of low-, moderate- and high-range use at an early age. A total of five flocks with 40,000 hens/flock were investigated where 1875 hens/flock were randomly selected at 16 weeks of age, monitored for their range use and subsequently grouped into “stayers” (the 20% of hens that spent the least time on the range), “roamers” (the 20% of the hens that used the range more than stayers but less than rangers) and “rangers” (the 60% of the hens that spent the most time on the range). Eggs from the individual groups were collected in 10-weekly intervals until hens were 72 weeks of age, commercially graded and tested for several quality parameters. Significant differences were noted for hen-day production. For example, at 22 weeks of age, rangers enjoyed a laying rate of 88.0% ± 1.1%, while stayers performed at 78.2% ± 1.9% but at 72 weeks of age egg production of rangers was 85.1% ± 0.9% and of stayers was 95.5% ± 0.9% (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Range use was of minor importance to the egg quality. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:20:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c03b3e5000444f55bec3901f8fc33fd4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T19:20:12Z |
| publishDate | 2020-06-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-c03b3e5000444f55bec3901f8fc33fd42023-11-20T03:03:25ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152020-06-0110699110.3390/ani10060991Managing Free-Range Laying Hens—Part A: Frequent and Non-Frequent Range Users Differ in Laying Performance but Not Egg QualityTerence Zimazile Sibanda0Manisha Kolakshyapati1Mitchell Welch2Derek Schneider3Johan Boshoff4Isabelle Ruhnke5School of Environmental and Rural Science, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, AustraliaSchool of Environmental and Rural Science, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, AustraliaPrecision Agriculture Research Group, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, AustraliaPrecision Agriculture Research Group, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, School of Science and Technology, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, AustraliaComputation, Analytics, Software and Informatics, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, AustraliaSchool of Environmental and Rural Science, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, University of New England, Armidale NSW 2351, AustraliaLittle is known about the impact of ranging on laying performance and egg quality of free-range hens. The aim of this study was to characterise egg production of commercial free-range laying hen sub-populations of low-, moderate- and high-range use at an early age. A total of five flocks with 40,000 hens/flock were investigated where 1875 hens/flock were randomly selected at 16 weeks of age, monitored for their range use and subsequently grouped into “stayers” (the 20% of hens that spent the least time on the range), “roamers” (the 20% of the hens that used the range more than stayers but less than rangers) and “rangers” (the 60% of the hens that spent the most time on the range). Eggs from the individual groups were collected in 10-weekly intervals until hens were 72 weeks of age, commercially graded and tested for several quality parameters. Significant differences were noted for hen-day production. For example, at 22 weeks of age, rangers enjoyed a laying rate of 88.0% ± 1.1%, while stayers performed at 78.2% ± 1.9% but at 72 weeks of age egg production of rangers was 85.1% ± 0.9% and of stayers was 95.5% ± 0.9% (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Range use was of minor importance to the egg quality.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/6/991behavioureconomicsefficiencyhusbandrymovementnon-caged |
| spellingShingle | Terence Zimazile Sibanda Manisha Kolakshyapati Mitchell Welch Derek Schneider Johan Boshoff Isabelle Ruhnke Managing Free-Range Laying Hens—Part A: Frequent and Non-Frequent Range Users Differ in Laying Performance but Not Egg Quality Animals behaviour economics efficiency husbandry movement non-caged |
| title | Managing Free-Range Laying Hens—Part A: Frequent and Non-Frequent Range Users Differ in Laying Performance but Not Egg Quality |
| title_full | Managing Free-Range Laying Hens—Part A: Frequent and Non-Frequent Range Users Differ in Laying Performance but Not Egg Quality |
| title_fullStr | Managing Free-Range Laying Hens—Part A: Frequent and Non-Frequent Range Users Differ in Laying Performance but Not Egg Quality |
| title_full_unstemmed | Managing Free-Range Laying Hens—Part A: Frequent and Non-Frequent Range Users Differ in Laying Performance but Not Egg Quality |
| title_short | Managing Free-Range Laying Hens—Part A: Frequent and Non-Frequent Range Users Differ in Laying Performance but Not Egg Quality |
| title_sort | managing free range laying hens part a frequent and non frequent range users differ in laying performance but not egg quality |
| topic | behaviour economics efficiency husbandry movement non-caged |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/10/6/991 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT terencezimazilesibanda managingfreerangelayinghenspartafrequentandnonfrequentrangeusersdifferinlayingperformancebutnoteggquality AT manishakolakshyapati managingfreerangelayinghenspartafrequentandnonfrequentrangeusersdifferinlayingperformancebutnoteggquality AT mitchellwelch managingfreerangelayinghenspartafrequentandnonfrequentrangeusersdifferinlayingperformancebutnoteggquality AT derekschneider managingfreerangelayinghenspartafrequentandnonfrequentrangeusersdifferinlayingperformancebutnoteggquality AT johanboshoff managingfreerangelayinghenspartafrequentandnonfrequentrangeusersdifferinlayingperformancebutnoteggquality AT isabelleruhnke managingfreerangelayinghenspartafrequentandnonfrequentrangeusersdifferinlayingperformancebutnoteggquality |