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Performance of Laying Hens as Influenced by Length of Time Without Feed1
Performance of Laying Hens as Influenced by Length of Time Without Feed1 C. R. DOUGLAS, R. H. HARMS and W. G. NESBETH Department of Poultry Science, Florida Agricultural Experiment Gainesville, Florida 32611
Station,
(Received for publication October 31, 1977)
INTRODUCTION
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Gee and H u s t o n ( 1 9 6 5 ) studied survival t i m e and found t h a t White Leghorn h e n s survived for 39 days w i t h o u t feed w h e n t h e air t e m p e r a t u r e was 30 C. Bierer et al. ( 1 9 6 5 ) f o u n d t h a t egg weight and shell weight decreased w h e n hens were deprived of feed. T h e y also found t h a t molting was induced in 11 t o 14 days w h e n birds received w a t e r b u t n o feed. Polin and Sturkie ( 1 9 5 4 ) f o u n d t h a t b l o o d calcium d r o p p e d 5.2 and 9.3 m g / 1 0 0 ml in birds t h a t w e r e given water b u t n o feed for 2 4 and 4 8 hr, respectively.
T w o e x p e r i m e n t s were c o n d u c t e d using Babcock B-300 hens. E x p e r i m e n t 1 began in August with hens which were 70 weeks of age and E x p e r i m e n t 2 began in F e b r u a r y with hens which were 6 5 weeks of age. F o u r replicates of 10 hens p e r t r e a t m e n t were used in E x p e r i m e n t 1 and t h r e e replicates of 10 hens per t r e a t m e n t were used in E x p e r i m e n t 2. Hens were r a n d o m i z e d and housed individually in 2 5 . 4 X 4 5 . 7 c m cages after having been previously used for o t h e r studies while housed in cages.
Due t o mechanical or p o w e r failures or o t h e r errors in feed delivery, laying hens are often deprived of feed for various periods of t i m e . It t h e n becomes i m p o r t a n t t o k n o w t h e effect of feed deprivation on egg p r o d u c t i o n and o t h e r egg and hen characteristics. There is a lack of information concerning t h e effect of single t i m e feed deprivation u p o n s u b s e q u e n t layer performance. T h e following e x p e r i m e n t s were designed t o s t u d y t h e influence of withholding feed from laying hens for various lengths of time upon subsequent performance.
1
Fla. Agr. Exp. Sta. Journal Series No. 771.
1978 Poultry Sci 57:968-970
T h e layer diet fed during b o t h e x p e r i m e n t s was a corn-soy t y p e diet calculated t o contain 16.2% p r o t e i n , 2 8 8 1 Kcal of metabolizable energy per kg, 3.00% calcium and . 7 5 % t o t a l phosphorus. Five e x p e r i m e n t a l t r e a t m e n t s were used in which h e n s w e r e deprived of feed for 0, 12, 2 4 , 4 8 or 72 hr. Birds deprived of feed were all r e t u r n e d t o full feed at t h e same time, and thereafter feed was supplied ad libitum. Water was supplied ad libitum during b o t h feed deprivation and t h e seven-week period following deprivation. Egg p r o d u c t i o n , feed c o n s u m p t i o n , b o d y weight, egg weight, specific gravity of eggs, and m o r t a l i t y d a t a were collected during t h e experim e n t a l periods. Where a p p r o p r i a t e , t h e d a t a 968
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at umontanalawschool on April 8, 2015
ABSTRACT Two experiments were conducted to study the influence of feed deprivation for various periods of time upon subsequent performance of laying hens. A total of 3 50 commercial Leghorn-type hens (65 weeks of age, first experiment; 70 weeks of age, second experiment) were housed individually in cages and subjected to 0, 12, 24, 48, or 72 hours of feed deprivation. At all other times feed was allowed ad libitum. Water was supplied ad libitum during feed deprivation and the seven-week period following deprivation. When hens were deprived of feed for 72 hours, a pause in egg production of 7 to 10 days duration was observed, after which time normal egg production was resumed. The 48-hour feed deprivation resulted in a few hens having a 7- to 10-day pause in egg production; however, most hens on this treatment had no pause or a pause of shorter duration. Average egg production for the three-week period following treatment was significantly lower for birds deprived of feed for 48 or 72 hours compared to the control birds. Subsequent egg production was not significantly affected. Feed deprivation for 12 or 24 hours did not significantly influence egg production. Feed consumption, egg weight, specific gravity of eggs, and mortality were not significantly affected by treatment.
TIME WITHOUT FEED OF LAYERS
969
TABLE 1 .—Egg production (% hen day) and eggs lost after hens were deprived of feed for various periods of time Hours
1--3 wk d
Eggs lost/hen
4 - 7 wk d
feed
Exp. 1
Exp. 2
Exp. 1
Exp. 2
Exp. 1 and Exp. 2
0 12 24 48 72
59.0 a 54.2ab 54.9 a b 47.6 b 33.9 C
70.2 a 75.3a 68.5a 51.5b 43.9 C
56.8 a 57.4a 59.1 a 59.5a 54.9a
68.6 a 73.ia 69.5a 67.6 a 72.3a
.Oa .0 a .6 a 3.3b 5.6C
a
' ' Means within the same column having different superscript letters are significantly different (P<.05).
were subjected to analysis of variance as outlined by Snedecor and Cochran (1967) with signifiant differences among treatment means determined by the multiple range test of Duncan (1955). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Depriving hens of feed for 12 or 24 hr did not significantly affect egg production (Table 1). Withholding feed for 48 hr resulted in a significant reduction in egg production, and depriving hens of feed for 72 hr resulted in a further significant drop in egg production during the first three weeks. Hens deprived of feed for 72 hr had a pause in egg production of approximately 7 to 10 days. However, hens which were deprived of feed for 48 hr had either no pause in production or a pause shorter than seven days. Egg production during the fourth through seventh weeks in both experiments indicated that once hens had resumed production after a
pause, performance was equal to that of control hens. Average numbers of eggs lost per hen were 3.3 and 5.6 for hens deprived of feed for 48 and 72 hours, respectively (Table 1). There were no significant differences in egg weight or specific gravity of eggs from hens deprived of feed for the various periods of time (Table 2). On day 10, hens which had been deprived of feed for 72 hr laid too few eggs for a meaningful evaluation. Polin and Sturkie (1954) reported that starvation during the period when an egg was in the uterus decreased shell weight of the egg by 20%. While the work reported herein did not include data on eggs formed during periods of feed deprivation, no increase in soft shell eggs was noted from birds subjected to any of the treatments. Feed consumption and body weight were not affected by treatment (Table 3). There were no significant differences in mortality among treatment groups in either experiment. Results from these experiments indicate that feed deprivation for 12 or 24 hr did not
TABLE 2.—Egg weight (g) and specific gravity of eggs from hens deprived of feed for various periods of time (Experiment l)3Hours
17 days b
10 daysb
23 daysb
feed
Egg wt
Sp. gr.
Egg wt
Sp. gr.
Eggwt
Sp.gr.
0 12 24 48 72
57.8 58.1 58.0 56.5
1.072 1.074 1.074 1.072
59.4 60.7 59.3 60.3 61.4
1.067 1.068 1.068 1.067 1.065
60.9 62.3 56.7 61.2 63.5
1.077 1.079 1.075 1.079 1.080
Means within the same column were not significantly different (P<.05). Days after return to feed.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at umontanalawschool on April 8, 2015
Weeks after return to feed.
970
DOUGLAS ET AL.
TABLE 3.—Feed consumed and body weight of hens deprived of feed for various periods of time (Experiment 2)& g feed/hen/day without feed
1-7 days 0
1^9 days' 3
Body wt c (g)
0 12 24 48 72
109 112 110 103 108
112 111 110 108 112
1690 1634 1629 1565 1681
Days after return to feed. At end of experiment.
significantly affect p r o d u c t i o n performance or m o r t a l i t y . Egg p r o d u c t i o n was significantly reduced for three weeks following deprivation of feed for 4 8 or 72 hr which resulted in a
REFERENCES Bierer, B. W., T. H. Eleazer, and D. E. Roebuck, 1965. Effect of feed and water deprivation on chickens, turkeys and laboratory mammals. Poultry Sci. 44:768-773. Duncan, D. B., 1955. Multiple range and multiple F tests. Biometrics, 11:1—42. Gee, G. F., and T. M. Huston, 1965. The effects of environmental temperature upon survival time and carcass composition of birds deprived of water. Poultry Sci. 44:1372. Polin, D., and P. D. Sturkie, 1954. Effects of starvation on diffusible and non-diffusible plasma calcium in the fowl. Poultry Sci. 33:1077. Snedecor, G. W., and W. G. Cochran, 1967. Statistical methods. The Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at umontanalawschool on April 8, 2015
Means within the same column were not significantly different (P<.05).
loss of 3.3 and 5.6 eggs per hen, respectively. T h u s s h o r t t e r m feed deprivation ( u p t o 2 4 h r ) can be tolerated b y hens which are in later stages of p r o d u c t i o n . No t r e a t m e n t X experim e n t interaction was observed; therefore, season (August vs. F e b r u a r y ) apparently had little or n o effect on p e r f o r m a n c e following feed deprivation.
Station,
(Received for publication October 31, 1977)
INTRODUCTION
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE
Gee and H u s t o n ( 1 9 6 5 ) studied survival t i m e and found t h a t White Leghorn h e n s survived for 39 days w i t h o u t feed w h e n t h e air t e m p e r a t u r e was 30 C. Bierer et al. ( 1 9 6 5 ) f o u n d t h a t egg weight and shell weight decreased w h e n hens were deprived of feed. T h e y also found t h a t molting was induced in 11 t o 14 days w h e n birds received w a t e r b u t n o feed. Polin and Sturkie ( 1 9 5 4 ) f o u n d t h a t b l o o d calcium d r o p p e d 5.2 and 9.3 m g / 1 0 0 ml in birds t h a t w e r e given water b u t n o feed for 2 4 and 4 8 hr, respectively.
T w o e x p e r i m e n t s were c o n d u c t e d using Babcock B-300 hens. E x p e r i m e n t 1 began in August with hens which were 70 weeks of age and E x p e r i m e n t 2 began in F e b r u a r y with hens which were 6 5 weeks of age. F o u r replicates of 10 hens p e r t r e a t m e n t were used in E x p e r i m e n t 1 and t h r e e replicates of 10 hens per t r e a t m e n t were used in E x p e r i m e n t 2. Hens were r a n d o m i z e d and housed individually in 2 5 . 4 X 4 5 . 7 c m cages after having been previously used for o t h e r studies while housed in cages.
Due t o mechanical or p o w e r failures or o t h e r errors in feed delivery, laying hens are often deprived of feed for various periods of t i m e . It t h e n becomes i m p o r t a n t t o k n o w t h e effect of feed deprivation on egg p r o d u c t i o n and o t h e r egg and hen characteristics. There is a lack of information concerning t h e effect of single t i m e feed deprivation u p o n s u b s e q u e n t layer performance. T h e following e x p e r i m e n t s were designed t o s t u d y t h e influence of withholding feed from laying hens for various lengths of time upon subsequent performance.
1
Fla. Agr. Exp. Sta. Journal Series No. 771.
1978 Poultry Sci 57:968-970
T h e layer diet fed during b o t h e x p e r i m e n t s was a corn-soy t y p e diet calculated t o contain 16.2% p r o t e i n , 2 8 8 1 Kcal of metabolizable energy per kg, 3.00% calcium and . 7 5 % t o t a l phosphorus. Five e x p e r i m e n t a l t r e a t m e n t s were used in which h e n s w e r e deprived of feed for 0, 12, 2 4 , 4 8 or 72 hr. Birds deprived of feed were all r e t u r n e d t o full feed at t h e same time, and thereafter feed was supplied ad libitum. Water was supplied ad libitum during b o t h feed deprivation and t h e seven-week period following deprivation. Egg p r o d u c t i o n , feed c o n s u m p t i o n , b o d y weight, egg weight, specific gravity of eggs, and m o r t a l i t y d a t a were collected during t h e experim e n t a l periods. Where a p p r o p r i a t e , t h e d a t a 968
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at umontanalawschool on April 8, 2015
ABSTRACT Two experiments were conducted to study the influence of feed deprivation for various periods of time upon subsequent performance of laying hens. A total of 3 50 commercial Leghorn-type hens (65 weeks of age, first experiment; 70 weeks of age, second experiment) were housed individually in cages and subjected to 0, 12, 24, 48, or 72 hours of feed deprivation. At all other times feed was allowed ad libitum. Water was supplied ad libitum during feed deprivation and the seven-week period following deprivation. When hens were deprived of feed for 72 hours, a pause in egg production of 7 to 10 days duration was observed, after which time normal egg production was resumed. The 48-hour feed deprivation resulted in a few hens having a 7- to 10-day pause in egg production; however, most hens on this treatment had no pause or a pause of shorter duration. Average egg production for the three-week period following treatment was significantly lower for birds deprived of feed for 48 or 72 hours compared to the control birds. Subsequent egg production was not significantly affected. Feed deprivation for 12 or 24 hours did not significantly influence egg production. Feed consumption, egg weight, specific gravity of eggs, and mortality were not significantly affected by treatment.
TIME WITHOUT FEED OF LAYERS
969
TABLE 1 .—Egg production (% hen day) and eggs lost after hens were deprived of feed for various periods of time Hours
1--3 wk d
Eggs lost/hen
4 - 7 wk d
feed
Exp. 1
Exp. 2
Exp. 1
Exp. 2
Exp. 1 and Exp. 2
0 12 24 48 72
59.0 a 54.2ab 54.9 a b 47.6 b 33.9 C
70.2 a 75.3a 68.5a 51.5b 43.9 C
56.8 a 57.4a 59.1 a 59.5a 54.9a
68.6 a 73.ia 69.5a 67.6 a 72.3a
.Oa .0 a .6 a 3.3b 5.6C
a
' ' Means within the same column having different superscript letters are significantly different (P<.05).
were subjected to analysis of variance as outlined by Snedecor and Cochran (1967) with signifiant differences among treatment means determined by the multiple range test of Duncan (1955). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Depriving hens of feed for 12 or 24 hr did not significantly affect egg production (Table 1). Withholding feed for 48 hr resulted in a significant reduction in egg production, and depriving hens of feed for 72 hr resulted in a further significant drop in egg production during the first three weeks. Hens deprived of feed for 72 hr had a pause in egg production of approximately 7 to 10 days. However, hens which were deprived of feed for 48 hr had either no pause in production or a pause shorter than seven days. Egg production during the fourth through seventh weeks in both experiments indicated that once hens had resumed production after a
pause, performance was equal to that of control hens. Average numbers of eggs lost per hen were 3.3 and 5.6 for hens deprived of feed for 48 and 72 hours, respectively (Table 1). There were no significant differences in egg weight or specific gravity of eggs from hens deprived of feed for the various periods of time (Table 2). On day 10, hens which had been deprived of feed for 72 hr laid too few eggs for a meaningful evaluation. Polin and Sturkie (1954) reported that starvation during the period when an egg was in the uterus decreased shell weight of the egg by 20%. While the work reported herein did not include data on eggs formed during periods of feed deprivation, no increase in soft shell eggs was noted from birds subjected to any of the treatments. Feed consumption and body weight were not affected by treatment (Table 3). There were no significant differences in mortality among treatment groups in either experiment. Results from these experiments indicate that feed deprivation for 12 or 24 hr did not
TABLE 2.—Egg weight (g) and specific gravity of eggs from hens deprived of feed for various periods of time (Experiment l)3Hours
17 days b
10 daysb
23 daysb
feed
Egg wt
Sp. gr.
Egg wt
Sp. gr.
Eggwt
Sp.gr.
0 12 24 48 72
57.8 58.1 58.0 56.5
1.072 1.074 1.074 1.072
59.4 60.7 59.3 60.3 61.4
1.067 1.068 1.068 1.067 1.065
60.9 62.3 56.7 61.2 63.5
1.077 1.079 1.075 1.079 1.080
Means within the same column were not significantly different (P<.05). Days after return to feed.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at umontanalawschool on April 8, 2015
Weeks after return to feed.
970
DOUGLAS ET AL.
TABLE 3.—Feed consumed and body weight of hens deprived of feed for various periods of time (Experiment 2)& g feed/hen/day without feed
1-7 days 0
1^9 days' 3
Body wt c (g)
0 12 24 48 72
109 112 110 103 108
112 111 110 108 112
1690 1634 1629 1565 1681
Days after return to feed. At end of experiment.
significantly affect p r o d u c t i o n performance or m o r t a l i t y . Egg p r o d u c t i o n was significantly reduced for three weeks following deprivation of feed for 4 8 or 72 hr which resulted in a
REFERENCES Bierer, B. W., T. H. Eleazer, and D. E. Roebuck, 1965. Effect of feed and water deprivation on chickens, turkeys and laboratory mammals. Poultry Sci. 44:768-773. Duncan, D. B., 1955. Multiple range and multiple F tests. Biometrics, 11:1—42. Gee, G. F., and T. M. Huston, 1965. The effects of environmental temperature upon survival time and carcass composition of birds deprived of water. Poultry Sci. 44:1372. Polin, D., and P. D. Sturkie, 1954. Effects of starvation on diffusible and non-diffusible plasma calcium in the fowl. Poultry Sci. 33:1077. Snedecor, G. W., and W. G. Cochran, 1967. Statistical methods. The Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA.
Downloaded from http://ps.oxfordjournals.org/ at umontanalawschool on April 8, 2015
Means within the same column were not significantly different (P<.05).
loss of 3.3 and 5.6 eggs per hen, respectively. T h u s s h o r t t e r m feed deprivation ( u p t o 2 4 h r ) can be tolerated b y hens which are in later stages of p r o d u c t i o n . No t r e a t m e n t X experim e n t interaction was observed; therefore, season (August vs. F e b r u a r y ) apparently had little or n o effect on p e r f o r m a n c e following feed deprivation.