THE EFFECTS OF STOCKING DENSITY DURING PRODUCTION PHASE ON PHYSIOLOGICAL AND IMMUNOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS IN RELATION TO PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF DEVELOPED NATIVE LAYING HENS | ||||
| Egyptian Journal of Agricultural Research | ||||
| Article 28, Volume 88, Issue 4, December 2010, Page 1365-1394 PDF (7.6 MB) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/ejar.2010.231626 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
| MAGDY S. H. HASSAN1; HOSAM M. SAFAA2; MOHAMED M. ABDEL-FATAH1 | ||||
| 1Animal Production Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Ministry of Agriculture, Dokki, Giza, Egypt | ||||
| 2Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| The present study was conducted to evaluate some physiological, immunological and productive responses of two developed native laying hens to three stocking densities. A total of 450 hens and 50 cocks of Matrouh and Inshas strains (225 hens and 24 cocks of each) before sexual maturity (20 WK) were randomly chosen. Birds of both strains were allocated into three groups and reared on deep litter under natural light, environmental temperature, fed the same diets. Water was provided ad-lib (Free). The 1sT, 2nd and 3rd groups were placed in 10, 15 and 20 birds / m2 (floor area unit) to achieve hen densities of 1000, 667 and 500 cm2/ bird, respectively. The physiological and immunological effects were taken into consideration and assessed for improving productive performance. The experiment lasted for 4 months. The obtained results were as following: roaming: (1) High stocking density group had significantly reduced body weight, feed consumption, egg production, fertility and hatchability in both strains compared with other groups. (2) Humidity, litter pH, ammonia in house, body temperature and respiration rate increased as stocking density increased. (3) The birds in 1" and 2'1 groups gave the highest levels of plasma calcium, glucose, total protein, albumen, T4 hormone and Alkaline phosphatase, ALT and AST enzymes in both strains compared with the 3'1 group. (4) The birds in 1' group gave the highest levels of plasma, yolk and liver cholesterol LDL, HDL, total lipids and triglycerides in two strains compared with other groups. (5) The birds in 1st and 2''d groups gave the highest levels of primary immuno- response against sheep red plod cells and Newcastle disease, high level of plasma globuline and high relative weights of thymus gland and spleen , as immune-related organs, in both strains compared with the r group. (6) Matrouh strain gave the best physiological, immunological and productive performance compared with Inshas in 1' and rd groups; but Inshas strain gave the highest levels of primary immuno response against sheep red plod cells compared with Matrouh strain. The results suggest that increasing the number of birds to 15 birds /m2 may give comparable physiological and immunological effects to 10 birds / m2. The new aspect caused sharp decreases from 10 to 15 hens in the housing wages, labour and equipment costs per hen subsequently maximizing profits and increasing economic returns and give good biosecurity for rearing some native or local strains in the Egyptian villages. | ||||
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