Abstract
Two experiments were conducted to investigate the relationship of laying hen body weight at 28 weeks to daily feed intake (DFI) and hen performance. Significant differences in the body weight of hens in the various body weight groups (BWG) were found at the beginning and end of the experiments. The differences in body weight were found to be related to DFI which increased in a linear fashion as body weight increased. It was found that 6.80 and 6.56 g more feed was consumed daily by each hen for each 100 g of body weight, in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively. Egg production did not differ significantly between BWG. Egg weight, egg mass, and feed efficiency were shown to be related to hen body weight. Egg weight and egg mass significantly increased as body weight increased. Feed efficiency, however, showed an inverse trend, decreasing in a linear fashion as body weight increased.
Published Version
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