Keel bone fractures affect egg laying performance but not egg quality in laying hens housed in a commercial aviary system. 2019

Christina Rufener, and Sarah Baur, and Ariane Stratmann, and Michael J Toscano
Center for Proper Housing: Poultry and Rabbits (ZTHZ), Animal Welfare Division, VPH Institute, University of Bern, 3052 Zollikofen, Switzerland.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of keel bone fracture (KBF) severity and healing activity on individual productivity of laying hens. Focal hens (75 Lohmann Selected Leghorn (LSL), 75 Lohmann Brown (LB)) were housed alongside non-focal hens in 10 identical pens containing a commercial aviary system (15 focal hens per pen). Eggs of focal hens were identified by orally administering a dye on 3 consecutive days, resulting in a hen-specific color pattern in the yolk. Eggs were collected at 7 time points (37 to 61 weeks of age; WOA) for 5 d to determine individual laying performance and to assess egg quality. Radiographs were performed to score KBF severity on a continuous scale. Healing activity was scored as inactive, healing, or fresh. Linear mixed effects models were used for statistical analyses. We found an association between KBF severity and reduced egg laying performance with increasing age (P = 0.005). At 37 WOA, egg laying performance was similar across KBF severities, whereas at 61 WOA, performance in hens with the highest observed KBF severity was 16.2% lower than in hens without fractures. Hens with fresh fractures had a lower performance than hens with healing and inactive fractures at 37 WOA but higher performance at 61 WOA (P = 0.02). Egg quality parameters were not affected by fractures but were associated with an age × hybrid interaction (egg mass: P = 0.039, shell breaking strength: P = 0.03, shell width: P = 0.001). In conclusion, hens could maintain high performance irrespective of fracture severity until shortly after peak of lay, but seemed to redirect available resources towards fracture healing if a fresh fracture was present. At the end of lay, the negative effect of KBF fracture severity on individual production amplified indicating that hens were no longer able to cope with the physiological challenge of a fracture.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D009425 Nesting Behavior Animal behavior associated with the nest; includes construction, effects of size and material; behavior of the adult during the nesting period and the effect of the nest on the behavior of the young. Behavior, Nesting,Behaviors, Nesting,Nesting Behaviors
D010063 Ovum A mature haploid female germ cell extruded from the OVARY at OVULATION. Egg,Egg, Unfertilized,Ova,Eggs, Unfertilized,Unfertilized Egg,Unfertilized Eggs
D012098 Reproduction The total process by which organisms produce offspring. (Stedman, 25th ed) Human Reproductive Index,Human Reproductive Indexes,Reproductive Period,Human Reproductive Indices,Index, Human Reproductive,Indexes, Human Reproductive,Indices, Human Reproductive,Period, Reproductive,Periods, Reproductive,Reproductive Index, Human,Reproductive Indices, Human,Reproductive Periods
D002645 Chickens Common name for the species Gallus gallus, the domestic fowl, in the family Phasianidae, order GALLIFORMES. It is descended from the red jungle fowl of SOUTHEAST ASIA. Gallus gallus,Gallus domesticus,Gallus gallus domesticus,Chicken
D000818 Animals Unicellular or multicellular, heterotrophic organisms, that have sensation and the power of voluntary movement. Under the older five kingdom paradigm, Animalia was one of the kingdoms. Under the modern three domain model, Animalia represents one of the many groups in the domain EUKARYOTA. Animal,Metazoa,Animalia
D013249 Sternum A long, narrow, and flat bone commonly known as BREASTBONE occurring in the midsection of the anterior thoracic segment or chest region, which stabilizes the rib cage and serves as the point of origin for several muscles that move the arms, head, and neck.
D050723 Fractures, Bone Breaks in bones. Bone Fractures,Broken Bones,Spiral Fractures,Torsion Fractures,Bone Fracture,Bone, Broken,Bones, Broken,Broken Bone,Fracture, Bone,Fracture, Spiral,Fracture, Torsion,Fractures, Spiral,Fractures, Torsion,Spiral Fracture,Torsion Fracture

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