Korean Journal of Agricultural Science (농업과학연구)

Institute of Agricultural Science, CNU (충남대학교 농업과학연구소)
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Effect of single-sex or mixed rearing on growth and laying performance, blood parameters, egg quality, and feather scores of laying hens in an aviary system

  • Jiseon, Son (Poultry Research Institute, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration) ;
  • Hee-Jin, Kim (Poultry Research Institute, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration) ;
  • Eui-Chul, Hong (Poultry Research Institute, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration) ;
  • Hyun-Soo, Kim (Poultry Research Institute, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration) ;
  • Jin-Joo, Jeon (Poultry Research Institute, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration) ;
  • Bo-Seok, Kang (Poultry Research Institute, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration) ;
  • Hwan-Ku, Kang (Poultry Research Institute, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration)
  • Received : 2021.11.09
  • Accepted : 2021.12.14
  • Published : 2022.03.01
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Abstract

The present experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of single-sex or mixed rearing on the growth and laying performance, blood parameters, egg quality, and feather scores of laying hens in an aviary system. A total of 2,928 (females, 2,856; males, 72), Hy-Line Brown chickens at 20 weeks were evenly assigned to two treatments: termed here the single-sex (only female) and mixed-sex (female to male 20 : 1) conditions. They were allowed an ad libitum diet for 20 weeks in an aviary system. There were eight replicates of each treatment, each consisting of 12.42 m2·birds-1 (n=183), respectively. The body weight and uniformity in the mixed-sex condition were higher than those in the single-sex condition, but egg production did not show any significant differences between the two types of treatment for 20 weeks. The mixed-sex group showed an effect through stress parameters (corticosterone), whereas the feather score on the back was low at the end of the experiment. These results suggest that the presence of males affect corticosterone level for mating but can reduce the vigilance and aggressive behavior of laying hens.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

본 연구는 농촌진흥청 고유연구사업(과제번호: PJ014328)과 2021년도 농촌진흥청 국립축산과학원 전문연구원과정 지원사업에 이루어진 것으로 이에 감사드립니다.

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