The Effect of Light Intensity, Strain, and Age on the Behavior, Jumping Frequency and Success, and Welfare of Egg-Strain Pullets Reared in Perchery Systems.

The effects of light intensity (L) are not well studied in pullets. Our research objective was to study the effect of L on navigational success, behavior, and welfare of two pullet strains (S). In two repeated trials, a 3 × 2 × 4 factorial arrangement tested three L (10, 30, 50 lux) and two S (Lohmann Brown-Lite (LB), LSL-Lite (LW)) at four ages.

Assessing the effect of starch digestion characteristics on ileal brake activation in broiler chickens.

The objective of this research was to evaluate activation of the ileal brake in broiler chickens using diets containing semi-purified wheat (WS; rapidly and highly digested) and pea (PS; slowly and poorly digested) starch. Diets were formulated to contain six WS:PS ratios (100:0, 80:20, 60:40, 40:60, 20:80, 0:100) and each starch ratio was fed to 236 Ross 308 male broilers housed in 4 litter floor pens. At 28 d of age, the effect of PS concentration was assessed on starch digestion, digestive tract morphology, and digesta pH and short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) concentration.

Dietary Inositol Reduces Fearfulness and Avoidance in Laying Hens.

Myo-inositol (inositol) affects memory, and the incidence of depression and anxiety in mammals. An experiment was designed to determine if pure inositol (0.16%), or high levels of phytase (3000 FTU/kg) affect the behaviour of fully beaked Lohmann LSL lite hens fed amino acid sufficient (19% crude protein (CP)) and deficient diets (16% CP), from 19 to 59 weeks of age.

Understanding How Infrared Beak Treatment Affects the Beak Tissue and the Healing Response of Brown and White Feathered Layer Pullets.

Infrared beak treatment has less of a negative impact on laying hen welfare compared to other methods of beak treatment; however, it is still not fully understood how infrared beak treatment affects the beak tissue during the first few days post treatment. The objective of this study was to examine the histology of infrared beak treated vs. untreated beaks of 2 strains of layer chicks during early life.

Assessing the effect of rate and extent of starch digestion on laying hen performance.

The inclusion of starch with a lower rate and extent of digestion has proven to be beneficial in broiler production. However, less is known about its effect on laying hen performance. Therefore, 6 diets were formulated to produce differing ratios (0:100, 20:80, 40:60, 60:40, 80:20, and 100:0) of semi-purified wheat starch (rapidly digested) and pea starch (PS; slowly digested).

Effect of rate and extent of starch digestion on broiler chicken performance.

Dietary starch with lower rate and extent of digestion improves broiler feed efficiency, but previous results might have been confounded by non-starch components of the grains. Therefore, the objective of this research was to study the effects of starch digestion on broilers using semi-purified starch. Semi-purified wheat (WS, rapidly digested) and pea (PS, slowly digested) starch were combined to create 6 WS:PS ratios (100:0, 80:20, 60:40, 40:60, 20:80, and 0:100) in starter, grower and finisher diets.