Abstract
As progress is made towards extending the production cycle of the modern laying hen beyond 60 weeks of age, it is vital to develop effective nutritional strategies to sustain egg production and maintain eggshell quality. A 20-week study was conducted to evaluate the effects of feeding various ratios of fine (FL) and coarse (CL) limestone continuously (conventional) or only in the afternoon (split) on egg production and egg quality. The experiment was designed as randomized complete blocks with split plots over hen age. A 2 × 4 factorial arrangement of two feed distribution regimens (conventional and split) and four ratios of fine and coarse limestone (35:65, 25:75,15:85, and 0:100 FL:CL, respectively) were studied. Eight feeding regimens were tested with 4 feeding regimens that received the same diet in the morning and afternoon and the other 4 feeding regimens that received a diet without limestone in the morning but 4 diets with all the added limestone in the afternoon. An interaction was observed between feeding regimens and age of birds for mean eggshell breaking strength (P = 0.044), indicating that the split feeding regimen maintains eggshell breaking strength compared to conventional feeding regimen. There was an interaction (P < 0.001) between limestone particle ratio and age for feed intake indicating that higher amount of feed is consumed when fine limestone is not added to the diet. The main effect of limestone ratio was observed for tibial breaking strength (TBS) (P = 0.026), where the birds fed 35FL:65CL or 25FL:75CL ratio diets had a greater TBS than 15FL:85CL and 0FL:100CL. Split feeding alone was not able to improve the eggshell breaking strength. Therefore, future research should focus on a combined strategy of improved genetics, nutrition, feeding regimen, and management strategy to maintain the eggshell quality in the late production phase.
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