Zinc Oxide as an Effective Mineral for Induced Moulting: Effects on Post Moult Performance of Laying Hens in the Humid Tropics

Ndubuisi Samuel Machebe Pamela Iweh

doi:10.4172/2157-7579.s11-003

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of using zinc oxide salts to induce moulting, and their effects on post moult performance and organ characteristics of laying hens. Two hundred (75 weeks of age) Isa Brown hens were randomly assigned to five Treatments (T) groups of 40 hens, each namely; T 0-non-moulted hens and T1, T2, T3, T 4 , representing moulted hens fed, respectively, 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% Zinc Oxide (ZnO) supplementation per kg diet for 14 days. Organ evaluations of the hens were carried out 7 days post moult. Body weight loss and decline in feed intake of the birds were higher (P<0.01) for moulted hens. Cessation of egg production occurred earlier (P<0.05) in the same groups of birds. During post moult, the moulted hens exhibited greater (P<0.01) percentage body weight gain, when compared with the non-moulted hens. Feed intake and hen-day egg production of birds on 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0% ZnO supplementation was higher (P<0.01), than those of other treatments. Feed conversion ratio was better (P<0.05) for the same groups of birds. Moulting with ZnO treatment influence highly (P<0.01) the number of days to resumption of egg production, with hens on 2.0% ZnO resuming egg production much later than hens on 0.5%, 1.0%, and 1.5% ZnO treatments. The ovary, liver and kidney of the hens were affected (P<0.05) by the dietary ZnO contents. A greenish coloration of the liver was observed in hens fed 1.5% and 2% ZnO supplementation. These results demonstrate that in order to achieve good post moult performance of laying hens in the humid tropics, farmers should practice the use of 1% ZnO inclusion per kg diet, as an effective method to achieve induced moulting.

Highlights

The rate of increase in human population, especially in many developing countries already suffering from chronic hunger and malnutrition, demands that new strategies intended at guarantying food security in developing economies of the world is developed.An effective means of ensuring rapid transformation in animal protein consumption and food security situation in developing countries is the application of various management strategies in poultry production, aimed at increasing the supply of meat and eggs to local communities faced with severe challenges of food insecurity
The result of this study showed the effectiveness of using Zinc Oxide (ZnO) as a moulting agent in laying hens
Inducing moult in hens by the application of ZnO caused a significant decline in the body weight and feed intake of the birds

Summary

Introduction

The rate of increase in human population, especially in many developing countries already suffering from chronic hunger and malnutrition, demands that new strategies intended at guarantying food security in developing economies of the world is developed. An effective means of ensuring rapid transformation in animal protein consumption and food security situation in developing countries is the application of various management strategies in poultry production, aimed at increasing the supply of meat and eggs to local communities faced with severe challenges of food insecurity. Force moulting, which is the practice of provoking complete flock of hens to moult simultaneously, aimed at extending egg production for more than one year [1], is not a common practice in many developing countries of the world. Egg production eventually resumes and increases rapidly to a profitable rate, following this artificial moult [2]

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