A body condition scoring system for layer hens

Abstract

The body condition of end‐of‐lay hens was scored into four categories by palpating the keel and breast muscles. They were then killed with an overdose of pentobarbitone and physically dissected into fat, muscle, and bone. As the condition score increased, empty body weight, fat weight, muscle weight, and fat % in the empty body increased. Birds with the lowest condition score had particularly poorly developed breast muscles. This body condition scoring method can be a useful subjective way of assessing a bird's body reserves.

Keywords:

• chicken
• body condition score
• body composition
• fatness
• emaciation