Abstract
Poultry Science Division, Livestock Resource Development, National Institute of Animal Science, RDA, Seonghwan 330-801, KoreaABSTRACT This study aimed to investigate the effects of reducing feed intake on performance and meat quality in old laying hens. A total of 200 Hy-Line Brown laying hens (100 weeks old) were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments: control (100% daily feed intake), 90%, 60%, 50%, and 20% daily feed intake. Each treatment was replicated four times with 10 birds per replication and two birds per cage. Ten-bird units were arranged according to a randomized block design. The feeding trial lasted for 4 weeks under a 16L:8D lighting regimen. The results indicated that the daily feed intake correlated with hen-day egg production and feed conversion ratios (P<0.05). The carcass yields and partial ratios were also correlated with daily feed intake (P<0.05). The levels of leukocytes (without basophils) were higher in the 50% and 20% daily feed intake groups than in the other groups. The concentrations of dry matter, crude ash, crude fat, and crude protein, water holding capacity, cooking loss, and fatty acids in the breast meat did not decrease as the daily feed intake decreased. In conclusion, reducing daily feed intake decreased laying performance and carcass yield but had no effect on breast meat quality. (Key words: laying hen, feed intake regulation, productivity, breast meat quality)
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