• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.537-546
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• 2008

The experiment was conducted to determine the effect of the mixed herbal medicine for the substitution of antibiotics on the performance of laying hens. Day old hyline 1,500 layer chicks were randomly assigned to 4 treatments. Control were 600 and three each treatment was 300. Eggs were collected at every weeks for measuring egg production and week 26, 27, 28 for chemical analyses. Chemical analyses were done for fatty acid profile of egg yolks, amino acid, antibiotics residue in eggs(collect eggs after supplying OTC 21ppm/bird/day to control for four day at 26, 27, 28) during the laying period($19{\sim}77wk$). On $0{\sim}4$ week, T-3 showed higher feed intake than those fed the other diets and on $5{\sim}13$ week, T-2 showed highest feed intake among treatments. After birds were moved ($14{\sim}18$ wk) CT-3 showed highest, but for overall rearing period, there was not significantly different among treatments. In conclusion the mixed herbal medicine did not tended to influence palatability to rearing birds. Egg quality(egg yolk color, haugh unit, eggshell breaking strength) showed no difference among treatments. Ratio of unsaturated fatty acid (mg/100g)/saturated fatty acid (mg/100g) was not difference among treatments, but linolenic acid and docosahexaenoic acid(DHA) of the mixed herbal medicine treatments showed higher then control. The antibiotics residue of CT, T treatments egg was not detected and control was not detected or below allowance. In conclusion the mixed herbal medicine can be possible to feed laying hen without antibiotics.

• Korean Journal of Poultry Science
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 1986

The subject of this study was to obtain some genetic information for developing superior layer chickens. Heterosis and combining ability effects were estimated with 5,759 progenies of full diallel crosses of 6 strains in White Leghorn. Fertility, hatchability, brooder-house viability, rearing- house viability, laying-house viability, age at 1st egg laying, body weight at 1st egg laying, average egg weight, hen-day egg production, hen-housed egg production, and feed conversion were investigated and analyzed into heterosis effect, general combining ability, specific combining ability and reciprocal effect by Grilling's model I. The results obtained were summarized as follows; 1. The general performance of each traits was 94.76% in fertility, 74.05% in hatchability, 97.47% in brooder-house viability, 99.72% in rearing-house viability, 93.81% in laying-house viability, 150 day in the age at 1st egg laying, 1,505g in the body weight at 1st egg laying, 60.08g in average egg weight, 77.11% in hen-day egg production, 269.8 eggs in hen-housed egg Production, and 2.44 in feed conversion. 2. The heterosis effects were estimated to -0.66%, 9.58%, 0.26%, 1.83%, -3.87%, 3.63%, 0.96%, 4.23%, 6.4%, and -0.8%, in fertility, hatchability, brooder-house viability, laying-house viability, the age at 1st egg laying, the body weight at 1st egg laying, average egg weight, hen-day egg Production, hen-housed egg production and feed conversion, respectively. 3. The results obtained from analysis of combining ability were as follows ; 1) Estimates of general combining ability, specific combining ability and reciprocal effects were not high in fertility. It was considered that fertility was mainly affected by environmental factors. In the hatchability, the general combining ability was more important than specific combining ability and reciprocal effects, and the superior strains were K and V which the additive genetic effects were very high. 2) In the brooder-house viability and laying-house viability, specific combining ability and reciprocal effects appeared to be important and the combinations of K${\times}$A and A${\times}$K were very superior. 3) In the feed conversion and average egg weight, general combining ability was more important compared with specific combining ability and reciprocal effects. On the basis of combining ability the superior strains were F, K and B in feed conversion, F and B in the average egg weight. 4) General combining ability, specific combining ability and reciprocal effects were important in the age at 1st egg laying and the combination of V ${\times}$F, F${\times}$K and B${\times}$F were very useful on the basis of these effects. In the body weight at 1st egg laying, general combining ability was more important than specific combining ability and reciprocal effects, relatively. The K, F and E strains were recommended to develop the light strain in the body weight at 1st egg laying. 5) General combining ability, specific combining ability and reciprocal effects were important in the hen-day egg production and hen-housed egg production. The combinations of F${\times}$K, A${\times}$K, and K${\times}$A were proper for developing these traits. 4. In general, high general combining ability effects were estimated for hatchability, body weight at 1st egg laying, average egg weight, hen-day egg production, hen-housed egg production, and feed conversion and high specific combining ability effects for brooder-house viability, laying house viability, age at 1st egg laying, hen-day egg production and hen-housed egg production, and high reciprocal effects for the age at 1st egg laying.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.69-75
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• 2013

This study was conducted to investigate the reliability of automatic cracked and bloody egg detector according to the age of the hens and the level of the detector. The results of this study are expected to be helpful in the implementation of the Korean egg grading system, which is expected to improve egg quality for consumers. An official egg grader randomly selected 1,000 eggs for each experiment (total 36,000 eggs), ran them through the automatic detector, and conducted labor inspection using the eggs that were classified by the detector as cracked, bloody, and normal eggs. The results showed that more cracked eggs were laid by hens aged 40-60 weeks than by hens aged 30 weeks (p<0.05). Also, when the detector level increased from four to seven (i.e., when it became less sensitive), its cracked eggs detection rate dropped, and the total rate of cracked eggs was consistent after the labor inspection of the classified eggs. The automatic detector achieved over 97 percent accuracy. The bloody eggs constituted only 0.005 percent of all the samples, and all the detector-detected eggs were bloody eggs after the labor inspection of both the bloody and normal egg lines. Therefore, it can be concluded that the automatic cracked and bloody egg detector was reliable and can be used in the egg grading system. Considering that cracked eggs should be less than 9 percent of first-grade eggs in the present egg grading system, the use of an automatic crack detector may help provide better-quality eggs to consumers by producing less than 5.5 percent cracked eggs.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.47-52
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• 2008

Broken eggs not only cause the economic loss in the egg producing industry, but also may not be good for the consumer's health. In order to identify the causes of eggshell breakage in laying hen houses, analyses on the status of eggshell breakage in the step of egg conveyer system of the laying hen house were conducted. The survey of eggshell breakage rate was implemented by four different stages egg conveying system. In the results, the breakage rate showed 4.7% in the egg collection belt, 2.5% in the egg elevator, 1.7% in the egg grading system and 0.9% in the egg conveyor belt. In particular, to Hy-line Brown variety, as the hens' raising week old increased, the breakage rate of eggshell increased while the strength of eggshell decreased. In the regression analysis between the breakage rate of eggshell and the strength of eggshell, the coefficient of determination ($R^2$) by the test of significance was computed as 0.7, therefore the changes of the strength of eggshell affects the breakage rate of eggshell. However, between the strength of eggshell and thickness of egg shell, and between the strength of eggshell and strain of eggshell, there was no significant difference detected in the regression analysis.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.521-532
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• 2020

The production performance of broiler breeder hens in response to different levels of total lysine during the early laying period was investigated. A total of 126 Ross 308 parent stock hens were offered one of seven dietary treatments formulating elevated contents of total lysine ranging from 0.55% to 0.79% (0.04 scale; 133 g of feed) from 23 to 29 weeks of age. Each treatment had six replicates with three birds per pen. Body weight was recorded triweekly and eggs were collected and weighted at 9:00 am daily. One hen from each pen was euthanized to collect blood samples and visceral organs were harvested and weighed. Egg production, egg weight and egg mass were lower (p < 0.05) in hens offered a diet containing 0.55% total lysine compared to those fed the diet containing higher total lysine. Hens offered a diet containing 0.71%, 0.75%, and 0.79% total lysine had greater (p = 0.008) egg production rate compared to those offered a diet containing lysine less than 0.71%. The number of total eggs produced tended to be greater (p = 0.083) in hens offered a diet containing 0.71 and 0.75% total lysine compared to the other treatments. The number of settable egg production was higher (p < 0.001) in hens offered a diet contacting 0.79% total lysine compared to those fed the diet containing lower levels of total lysine. The relative weights of oviduct and ovary were lower (p < 0.05) in hens offered a diet containing 0.59% total lysine compared to the other treatments. No difference found in body weight, the number of total eggs, double-yolk eggs and abnormal shell eggs among the treatments. The urea nitrogen, estradiol-17 beta and progesterone in plasma were not affected by treatments. Based on linear- and quadratic-plateau models, total lysine requirements for egg production, settable egg production and egg mass at the early laying period were to be 0.73%, 0.77%, and 0.71%, respectively. Modern broiler breeder hens likely require higher total lysine than NRC recommendation in a diet for enhancing productivity during the early-laying period.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.333-339
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• 2005

To increase IgY in egg yolks, hens were fed a feed supplemented with kelp meal $4\%$ cinnamon $0.3\%$ and mint $2\%$ respectively, and immunized 5 times with Streptococcus mutans(S. mutans) at 2 week intervals. Groups fed experimental feeds without immunization showed higher laying rate than the control group, without supplementary feed and immunization. After the immunization, the laying rates had been decreasing due to the stress of immunization. The laying rate was recovered after the termination of immunization. Egg weight was not affected by the immunization but diets. Feed intake was dependent on the laying rate. Total IgY concentration in eggs laid from hens fed feeds containing supplementary feeds was higher than that of control. Especially, total IgY was increased up to $7.9\%$ in eggs laid from hens fed feeds supplemented with $4\%$ of kelp meal. Anti-S. mutans IgY was detected at 4 weeks after first immunization. Activity of anti-S. mutans IgY was sustained at 5 week after the final immunization. As the average concentration of specific IgY during the experimental period showed that eggs from hens fed the feed containing $4\%$ of kelp meal increased the specific IgY by $8.5\%$ kelp meal supplement improved specific IgY production by immunization.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.727-735
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• 1996

The effects of four factors-two dietary protein levels (12 and 16%), feeding methods(ad libitum and restricted), strains (A and B), and age of hens-on egg quality and laying performance were examined. Use of the 12% dietary protein level resulted in significantly lower (p < 0.05) hen-day egg production, higher feed intake to about 85% of the ad libitum intake decreased mean hen-day production. Significant feeding method-by-age interactions ($F{\times}A$) were obtained for all parameters. Restricted feeding had favorable effects on shell strength and Haugh unit values after 28 and 16 weeks of egg production, respectively. There was significant difference in shell strength between the two strain. Examination of the three-factor interaction among protein levels, feeding method and strain ($P{\times}F{\times}S$) disclosed that the favorable effect of the A strain on shell strength was significant only with the 16% protein-restricted fed group. The other treatment group did show a trend for greater shell strength of the A strain. Mean values for all the parameters examined changed significantly (p < 0.01) with the age of hens. Feed intake per dozen eggs tended to increase, with some fluctuation, as the hens aged. There was a linear decrease in Haugh unit scores and shell strength. The effect of restricted feeding on either shell strength or Haugh unit scores were favorable for the aged chickens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.261-266
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• 2012

Fermented Chlorella vulgaris CBT$^{(R)}$ was evaluated for its effects on egg production, egg quality, liver lipids and intestinal microflora in laying hens. One hundred and eight Hy-line Brown layers (n = 108), 80 wk of age, were fed a basal diet supplemented with CBT$^{(R)}$ at the level of 0, 1,000 or 2,000 mg/kg, respectively for 42 d. Egg production was measured daily and egg quality was measured every two weeks. Five eggs from each replicate were collected randomly to determine egg quality. Egg production increased linearly with increasing levels of CBT$^{(R)}$ supplementation (p<0.05), although there was no significant effect of treatment on feed intake. Egg yolk color (p<0.001) and Haugh unit (p<0.01) improved linearly with increasing dietary CBT$^{(R)}$. Hepatic triacylglycerol level was linearly decreased with increasing dietary CBT$^{(R)}$ (p<0.05). The supplemental CBT$^{(R)}$ resulted in linear (p<0.001) and quadratic (p<0.01) response in population of cecal lactic acid bacteria. In conclusion, fermented Chlorella vulgaris supplemented to laying hen diets improved egg production, egg yolk color, Haugh unit and positively affected the contents of hepatic triacylglycerol and the profiles of cecal microflora.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.702-707
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• 1998

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of a microbial enzyme (Roxazyme-$G^{(R)}$), a multicarbohydrases preparation, supplementation to the wheat-based layer diets. Diets were formulated to include different levels of wheat replacing yellow corn on isocaloric and isonitrogenous basis. The energy value of wheat in the enzyme supplemented diets was adjusted (spec-modified) to have 5% more ME than the wheat in diets without enzyme. A total of 864 Hy-$Line^{(R)}$ brown layers were assigned to 4 dietary treatments: 10% wheat (T1), 25% wheat (T2), 25% wheat (spec-modified)+ 0.01 % Roxazyme-$G^{(R)}$ (T3), and all wheat (spec-modified)+0.01% Roxazyme-$G^{(R)}$ (T4). Hen-day egg productions of T1 and T4 were significantly (p < 0.05) greater than that of T2 but not different from T3. Hen-housed egg production of T4 was significantly (p < 0.01) greater than those of T1 and T3 but not different from T2. Egg weights of T1 and T2 were significantly (p < 0.0 1) greater than that of T4. Feed consumption of T2 was significantly (p < 0.01) lower than other treatments. Feed conversion ratio (feed/egg mass) was not significantly different among treatments. Eggshell thickness of T1 was significantly (p < 0.01) greater than other treatments but ratio of broken eggs was not significantly different among treatments. Haugh unit of T4 was significantly greater (p < 0.05) than that of T2. Egg yolk color was significantly (p < 0.01) influenced by treatments in which enzyme treatment potentiated the yolk pigmentation. It was concluded that a multi-carbohydrases supplementation enables complete replacement of yellow com with wheat without loss of productivity and major egg quality parameters.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.657-664
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• 1997

432 Babcock ISA white leghorn pullets reared for 8 weeks on a standard managemental conditions were exposed to feed/nutrient and light restrictions from 9 to 20 weeks of age. Four feeding regimes i. e. 100, 85 or 70 percent of the recommended allowance and low energy (2,500 Kcal/kg) low protein (13% CP) ration were fed each in the three light regimes i. e. (A) Natural day light starting from 13.24 hr/day at 8 weeks of age and ending 10.41 hr/day at the end of 20 weeks; (B) Constant 11 hr/day light and (C) starting with 13 hr/day at 8 weeks and decreasing @ 20 min/week till 20 weeks of age. At the age of 20 weeks all the birds were shifted to separate cages under uniform lighting feeding and management. During the 21st week light was increased to 12 hr a day and thereafter with an increase of 30 min per week, increased to 16 hr a day at the age of 29 weeks. From 20 weeks onward till 72 week age, all the birds were offered commercial layer rations ad libitum, prepared according to climatic conditions. The results of the study revealed that birds reared under natural and constant light had higher weights than decreasing light, yet they could not out perform during production period. The effect of feed and nutrient restriction, on the other hand, was found significant during rearing as well as production period. The birds exposed to higher level of feed and those exposed to nutrient restriction were lighter in weight. The 100% fed birds laid their first egg at an early age. However, those reared on 85% of the recommendation excelled all other groups in terms of produced number of eggs, egg mass, hen housed and hen day production and net returns.