A major emphasis on ethanol production in the US has led to the construction of new ethanol plants and an increased production of distillers dried grains plus solubles (DDGS). In the past DDGS came largely from the beverage industry and consisted of several grains used during fermentation. Recently, a majority of the DDGS produced is from corn fermentation for ethanol production. Little researc...

Mycoplasma gallisepticum (MG) is a reproductive/respiratory disease in poultry implicated in suboptimum egg production and decreased hatchability. Commercial layer hens raised in a controlled environment were inoculated with the S6 strain of MG at 10 wk of age. Egg production and selected egg and egg quality parameters were quantitated over the entire lay cycle for inoculated and control birds....

This study was conducted to determine the ability of an alternative salt form of 1% Zn, Zn propionate, to induce molt in 66-wk-old hens. The hens were randomly assigned to 4 treatment groups of 27 or 28 birds each: a) molted conventionally by feed withdrawal, b) 1% Zn as Zn acetate, c) 1% Zn as Zn propionate, or d) nonmolted control for 9 d. Feed intake was (P < 0.05) depressed in Zn acetate an...

Induced molting increases egg quality and egg production and extends the productive life of hens. Molting is accomplished by feed withdrawal, which has been criticized for not addressing hen well-being, and current alternatives have resulted in poor postmolt performance and inadequate well-being. Molting leads to regression of follicles on the ovary and causes loss of steroidogenic support for ...

Effects of long-term climatic stress (heat exposure), short-term hygienic stress [lipopolysaccharide (LPS)], or a combination of both challenges on the immune competence of 4 layer lines was investigated. The lines were earlier characterized for natural humoral immune competence and survival rate. Eighty hens per line were randomly divided over 2 identical climate chambers and exposed to a cons...

Venous blood gas and chemistry reference ranges were determined for commercial Hy-Line W-36 pullets and laying hens utilizing the portable i-STAT®1 analyzer and CG8+ cartridges. A total of 632 samples were analyzed from birds between 4 and 110 wk of age. Reference ranges were established for pullets (4 to 15 wk), first cycle laying hens (20 to 68 wk), and second cycle (post molt) laying hens (7...

This case report describes visceral gout in laying hens caused from deprivation of water supply as a consequence of limiting access for drinking water. In two different layer farms, nineteen week old pullets had a sudden and increased mortality rate. Gross pathology revealed typical uricosis lesions including: deposition of uric acid and its salts in kidney, pericardium, liver, muscle atrophy a...

New housing systems for commercial egg production, furnished cages and non-cage systems, should improve the welfare of laying hens. In particular, thanks to the presence of a litter area, these new housing systems are thought to satisfy the dust-bathing motivation of hens more than in conventional cages, in which no litter area is present. However, although apparently obvious, there is no concr...

AIM Objective of this study was to investigate the effect of different levels of iodine supplementation on iodine content of eggs in laying hens. MATERIALS AND METHODS In the experiment, 135 laying hens (White Leghorn) of 55 weeks age were randomly distributed to 5 dietary treatments; each group contained 27 laying hens distributed in three replicates of 9 birds each. Diet T1 was control basa...

2. There are a number of minimum standards where the animal welfare implications are self-evident and require no explanation for their inclusion. NAWAC has decided that it will not provide comment on these minimum standards or recommended best practices, but will provide explanations on minimum standards which it believes are complex or controversial or on which it received submissions with sig...