Effect of rearing system and season on the performance and egg characteristics of Ancona laying hens
By C. Mugnai, A. Dal Bosco, C. Castellini. 2009
106 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Abstract Productive performance and egg characteristics of Ancona laying hens reared under three different rearing systems (conventional, organic and organic-plus) were compared during an experimental period of one year. Three-hundred-sixty Ancona female chicks at 28 days of age were divided in three groups and assigned to different rearing systems. The organic group had 4m2 pasture/hen according to the requirements imposed by the EC Regulation 1804/99, whereas the organic-plus group had a larger grass paddock (10m2/hen). The Control group was reared in cages under standard housing conditions. The following egg characteristics were recorded and analysed during the year-long cycle: egg weight and egg mass laid/d, weight of egg components, shell thickness, Haugh index and yolk colour. Egg quality was affected by the pasture available. The hens that ingested grass (organic-plus), produced eggs with higher shell weight and percentage, darker yolk colour and higher α-tocopherol, carotenoid and polyphenol contents. The other egg traits were not affected by rearing system.
Subfields: Animal Science and Zoology, Biochemistry
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c99ee55adb56f481dafab826a5f99351b781aa68
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In Animal Science and Zoology
Citations in the corpus
- A multicriteria approach for measuring the sustainability of different poultry production systems (2012, background): “Good pasture management is essential when applying this type of poultry production to maintain adequate bird health and welfare (Dal Bosco et al., 2010; Castellini et al., 2006a; Mugnai et al., 2009).”