Published in Scientific Papers. Series D. Animal Science, Vol. LIX
Written by Muzaffer DENLI, Bekir BUKUN, Muhittin TUTKUN
Enriched battery cages and free-range as an alternative raising systems are intended to improve welfare of hens. Comparison of the productivity performance and egg quality of laying hens housed in two different systems regarding the welfare of laying hens was the objective of the study. A totally, eight hundred 19-wkold Lohmann Brown hens were housed in enriched cages (n=400; 16 cages; 25 hens per cage) and in freerange system (n=400) to 50 wk of age. Hen-day egg production, feed intake, feed efficiency were measured at 30, 40 and 50 wk. In both rearing systems, eggs were recorded for 2-wk intervals between 30 and 50 wk of age to measure egg quality parameters. Hen-egg production was significantly higher in enriched cages than free range system throughout the experiment (P<0.05). Hens raised in free-range system had greater egg weight, egg shell thickness and dirty eggs than in enriched cages (P<0.05). In addition, the feed intake and feed efficiency were higher in the free-range raising system than in the enriched cages at 30 wk. However, the heights and width of egg albumen and yolk were not affected by the raising systems (P>0.05). Based on the results the interior egg quality parameters appear to have similar for hens kept in both rearing systems. However, the higher proportion of dirty eggs for hens raised in free-range system was the greatest problem and still needs to be considered.
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