The effect of dietary energy and nutrients density on performance, egg components, egg quality, and profits of Hy-Line W-36 during the peak stage of first laying cycle

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredients and nutrients composition of experimental diets.

Ingredients and nutrients composition	Treatments^a
	92%	96%	100%	104%	108%
Ingredient (as fed basis), g/kg
Corn (ME = 3373 kcal/kg, CP = 7.5%)	544.7	519.7	494.7	469.6	444.6
Soybean meal (ME = 2420 kcal/kg, CP = 42%)	206.5	218.8	231.1	243.3	255.6
Corn gluten (ME = 3740 kcal/kg, CP = 60%)	20.0	30.6	41.2	51.7	62.3
Wheat bran (ME = 1300 kcal/kg, CP = 14.8%)	93.4	72.6	51.7	30.9	10.0
Soybean oil (ME = 8820 kcal/kg)	10.0	27.5	45.0	62.5	80.0
Limestone (Ca= 38%)	92.9	96.7	100.4	104.2	107.9
Dicalcium phosphate (Ca = 22%, P = 18.7%)	17.8	19.3	20.8	22.3	23.8
Common salt	4.6	4.6	4.7	4.7	4.7
Vitamin Premix^b	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Mineral Premix^c	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
DL-Methionine	2.1	2.2	2.3	2.4	2.5
L-Lysine-HCL	2.0	2.2	2.4	2.5	2.7
L-Threonine	1.0	1.0	1.0	0.9	0.9
Determined nutrient composition^d, as-fed basis
Metabolisable energy, kcal/kg	2647	2760	2874	2987	3100
Crude protein, %	15.76	16.44	17.13	17.81	18.49
Calcium, %	4.06	4.24	4.41	4.59	4.76
Phosphorus (available), %	0.48	0.5	0.53	0.55	0.57
Sodium, %	0.21	0.21	0.21	0.21	0.21
Digestible lysine, %	0.79	0.83	0.86	0.9	0.93
Digestible methionine, %	0.44	0.46	0.49	0.51	0.53
Digestible sulphur amino acids, %	0.66	0.69	0.72	0.75	0.78
Digestible threonine, %	0.56	0.58	0.61	0.63	0.65

^aPercentage of Hy-Line-W36 (mHy-Line 2016) Management guide recommended energy and nutrient density.

^bVitamin premix supplied the following per kilogram of diet. vitamin A (all-trans-retinol), 4400 IU; vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol), 1000 IU; vitamin E (α-tocopherol), 11 IU; vitamin K3 (menadione), 2.33 mg; vitamin B1 (thiamin), 2.97 mg; vitamin B2 (riboflavin), 4.4 mg; vitamin B3 (niacin), 22 mg; vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid), 10 mg; vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 4.45 mg; vitamin B9 (folic acid), 1.9 mg; vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin), 0.011 mg; vitamin H2 (biotin), 0.18 mg; choline chloride, 487.5 mg, antioxidant 1.0 mg

^cMineral premix supplied the following per kilogram of diet. Zn (zinc oxide), 75 mg; Mn (manganese oxide), 75; Fe (iron sulfate), 75; Cu (copper sulfate), 5; I (ethylene diamine dihydroiodide), 0.76; Se (Sodium Selenite), 0.1; choline chloride, 474.0

^dThe determined ingredient analysis was used to calculate nutrient composition (crude protein, calcium and sodium were measured by the AOAC (2002) methods; metabolisable energy, digestible amino acids and available phosphorus were measured by NIR analysis.

Abbreviations. ME: metabolisable energy; CP: crude protein, Ca: calcium, and P: phosphorus.

Table 2. Calculated daily absolute intakes of energy and selected nutrients in the laying hens during the peak production phase of the first laying cycle^a.

Items	FI, (g/hen/d)	ME, (kcal/hen/d)	CP	Ca	Available P	Dig Lys	Dig Met	Dig SAAs	Dig Thr
			(g/hen/d)		(mg/hen/d)
Treatments ^b	26–29 weeks of age
92%	100.23	265^d	15.80^d	4.07^d	481^d	792^d	441^d	662^d	561^d
96%	100.95	279^c	16.60^c	4.28^c	507^c	833^c	467^c	697^c	588^c
100%	98.26	282^c	16.83^c	4.33^c	516^c	845^c	477^c	707^c	594^c
104%	98.48	294^b	17.54^b	4.52^b	539^b	881^b	500^b	739^b	618^b
108%	98.67	306^a	18.24^a	4.70^a	562^a	918^a	523^a	770^a	641^a
SEM	1.85	2.44	0.15	0.04	4.51	7.35	4.10	6.12	5.19
P-Value	0.135	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001
Regression analysis
Linear	0.545	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001
Quadratic	0.576	0.661	0.598	0.611	0.612	0.622	0.584	0.591	0.628
	30–33 weeks of age
92%	104.15	276^d	16.57^d	4.23^d	500^d	823^d	458^e	687^d	583^d
96%	103.59	286^c	17.03^c	4.39^c	521^c	855^c	479^d	715^c	603^c
100%	101.26	291^c	17.34^c	4.47^c	532^c	871^c	491^d	729^c	613^c
104%	100.44	300^b	17.89^b	4.61^b	550^b	899^b	510^b	753^b	630^b
108%	100.72	312^a	18.62^a	4.79^a	574^a	937^a	534^a	786^a	655^a
SEM	1.85	3.15	0.19	0.05	5.72	9.42	5.28	7.90	6.62
P-Value	0.110	0.002	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.005
Regression analysis
Linear	0.281	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001
Quadratic	0.320	0.582	0.549	0.536	0.586	0.565	0.590	0.562	0.542
	34–37 weeks of age
92%	120.97^a	320	19.06	4.91	581	956	532	798	677
96%	115.84^b	320	19.05	4.91	582	956	536	799	675
100%	112.54^c	323	19.27	4.96	591	968	546	810	681
104%	108.01^d	323	19.23	4.95	591	967	548	810	678
108%	105.69^d	328	19.54	5.03	602	983	560	824	687
SEM	1.03	2.94	0.18	0.15	5.46	8.78	5.06	7.48	6.29
P-Value	0.001	0.357	0.312	0.319	0.163	0.239	0.105	0.122	0.698
Regression analysis
Linear	0.001	0.549	0.596	0.151	0.601	0.662	0.738	0.610	0.564
Quadratic	0.254	0.520	0.562	0.549	0.551	0.625	0.661	0.566	0.546

^aCalculated using feed-intake data multiple to diets analysed composition in Tables 1, the values are means of six replicates of 12 hens.

^bPercentage of Hy-Line-W36 (mHy-Line 2016) Management guide recommended energy and nutrient density.

Abbreviations. FI, feed intake; ME, metabolisable energy; CP, crude protein; Ca, calcium, Ava P, available phosphorus; Na, sodium; Dig Lys, digestible lysine; Dig Met, digestible methionine; Dig SAAs, digestible sulphur amino acids; Dig Thr, digestible threonine; and SEM, Standard error of the means.

Table 3. Effect of dietary energy and nutrients density on egg production performance of laying hens during the peak production phase of the first laying cycle^a.

Items	26–29 weeks	30–33 weeks	34–37 weeks	26–37 weeks
Treatments^b	Hen-day egg production, %
92%	93.57^b	88.82^b	89.67	90.69
96%	94.42^ab	89.62^ab	88.13	90.72
100%	93.68^b	90.20^ab	89.63	91.17
104%	96.20^a	90.64^a	88.88	91.90
108%	95.42^ab	89.56^ab	88.06	91.01
SEM	0.52	0.40	1.34	0.47
P-Value	0.005	0.041	0.849	0.379
Regression analysis
Linear	0.005	0.057	0.557	0.228
Quadratic	0.998	0.014	0.868	0.383
	Egg weight, g/egg
92%	58.68^b	59.54^b	60.47^b	59.56^b
96%	59.46^b	60.20^ab	61.26^ab	60.31^ab
100%	59.75^ab	60.27^ab	61.14^ab	60.38^ab
104%	59.53^ab	60.86^a	61.53^ab	60.64^ab
108%	60.72^a	61.44^a	61.56^a	61.57^a
SEM	0.32	0.33	0.45	0.33
P-Value	0.003	0.005	0.047	0.006
Regression analysis
Linear	0.001	0.001	0.114	0.001
Quadratic	0.800	0.770	0.553	0.661
	Egg mass, g/hen/day
92%	54.90^c	52.88^b	54.22	54.00^b
96%	56.13^bc	53.95^ab	53.96	54.68^ab
100%	55.97^bc	54.36^ab	54.78	55.04^ab
104%	57.27^ab	55.17^a	54.67	55.70^a
108%	57.94^a	55.02^a	55.10	56.02^a
SEM	0.44	0.39	0.78	0.34
P-Value	0.001	0.002	0.850	0.003
Regression analysis
Linear	0.001	0.001	0.313	0.001
Quadratic	0.845	0.165	0.873	0.741
	Feed conversion ratio, g Feed/ g Egg
92%	1.826^a	1.969^a	2.232^a	2.015^a
96%	1.799^ab	1.920^ab	2.149^ab	1.956^a
100%	1.756^bc	1.863^bc	2.057^bc	1.892^b
104%	1.720^cd	1.822^c	1.979^c	1.840^bc
108%	1.703^d	1.831^c	1.922^c	1.819^c
SEM	0.012	0.019	0.039	0.015
P-Value	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001
Regression analysis
Linear	0.001	0.001	0.001	0.001
Quadratic	0.542	0.069	0.633	0.172
	Income minus feed cost, $/hen ^c
92%	0.98^a	0.89^a	0.82	2.68^a
96%	0.96^a	0.87^ab	0.78	2.62^ab
100%	0.92^b	0.85^ab	0.77	2.55^b
104%	0.91^bc	0.83^b	0.75	2.49^bc
108%	0.88^c	0.77^c	0.73	2.37^c
SEM	0.010	0.013	0.027	0.032
P-Value	0.001	0.001	0.084	0.001
Regression analysis
Linear	0.001	0.001	0.012	0.001
Quadratic	0.893	0.096	0.866	0.533

^aData are means of 6 replicates of 12 hens each.

^bPercentage of Hy-Line-W36 (mHy-Line 2016) Management guide recommended energy and nutrient density.

^cEgg income was calculated by multiplying the cost of average egg cost during the experimental period by the total amount of egg mass laid in experimental period. The average egg price was $1.09/kg. Feed costs were calculated by multiplying the cost of each diet (based on the local price of feed ingredients in each diet) by the total amount of feed consumed in experimental period. The feed costs per 1000 kg of diet for treatments 92% to 108% were $247.54, $266.36, $285.18, $304.00, and $322.81, respectively.

Abbreviation. SEM, Standard error of the means.

Table 4. Effect of dietary energy and nutrients density on live body weight of laying hens during the peak production phase of the first laying cycle^a.

Items	Body weight, g/hen		Weight difference
	25wk of age	37wk of age	(25wk with 37wk of age)
Treatments^b
92%	1567.4	1673.3	106.0^b
96%	1594.4	1711.2	106.7^b
100%	1576.1	1678.4	112.3^b
104%	1592.4	1779.4	187.0^a
108%	1623.6	1801.8	178.2^a
SEM	21.99	42.49	20.33
P-Value	0.385	0.011	0.029
Regression analysis
Linear	0.091	0.018	0.041
Quadratic	0.572	0.501	0.652

^aData are means of 6 replicates of 12 hens each.

^bPercentage of Hy-Line-W36 (mHy-Line 2016) Management guide recommended energy and nutrient density.

Abbreviation. SEM, Standard error of the means.

Table 5. Effect of dietary energy and nutrients density on egg quality of laying hens during the peak production phase of the first laying cycle^a.

Items	Yolk weight, g	Albumen weight, g	Hugh unit	Shape Index	ESG, g/cm^3	ST, mm	SRW, %
Treatments^b	29 weeks of age
92%	15.04	40.97	95.26	79.15	1.087	0.454	10.021
96%	15.01	40.18	95.11	78.01	1.087	0.451	10.035
100%	15.29	41.32	94.81	78.48	1.088	0.461	9.988
104%	15.40	42.28	95.74	77.25	1.086	0.447	9.836
108%	15.54	42.32	93.97	77.19	1.087	0.448	9.785
SEM	0.197	0.417	0.625	0.702	0.006	0.004	0.111
P-Value	0.283	0.006	0.380	0.261	0.765	0.338	0.391
Regression analysis
Linear	0.023	0.035	0.522	0.085	0.135	0.595	0.845
Quadratic	0.965	0.372	0.406	0.095	0.733	0.445	0.596
	33 weeks of age
92%	15.28	41.91	95.60	78.32	1.087	0.460	9.279
96%	15.29	41.09	95.97	78.40	1.084	0.447	8.960
100%	15.35	41.69	96.32	78.09	1.086	0.473	9.104
104%	15.44	42.17	96.54	77.81	1.084	0.448	8.971
108%	15.73	42.21	95.47	77.50	1.085	0.459	9.237
SEM	0.207	0.569	0.368	0.505	0.005	0.008	0.106
P-Value	0.546	0.641	0.223	0.704	0.117	0.190	0.136
Regression analysis
Linear	0.045	0.012	0.144	0.422	0.064	0.945	0.118
Quadratic	0.546	0.603	0.195	0.573	0.052	0.923	0.182
	37 weeks of age
92%	16.15	40.82	94.77	77.80	1.086	0.479	9.040
96%	16.40	41.49	95.38	77.34	1.084	0.471	8.736
100%	16.58	41.58	95.13	77.42	1.086	0.487	8.994
104%	16.59	41.32	95.71	77.33	1.086	0.475	8.997
108%	16.57	42.97	97.87	76.67	1.086	0.484	8.757
SEM	0.231	0.790	1.125	0.427	0.001	0.011	0.134
P-Value	0.633	0.413	0.346	0.475	0.768	0.836	0.337
Regression analysis
Linear	0.035	0.024	0.577	0.978	0.757	0.856	0.914
Quadratic	0.956	0.115	0.346	0.719	0.648	0.775	0.803

^aThe values are means of six replicates of 6 samples (36 egg for each treatment were measured for egg quality).

^bPercentage of Hy-Line-W36 (mHy-Line 2016) Management guide recommended energy and nutrient density.

Abbreviations. ESG, egg special gravity; ST; shell thickness; SRW, shell relative weight; and SEM, Standard error of the means.

Table 6. Effect of dietary energy and nutrients density on egg composition of laying hens during the peak production phase of the first laying cycle determined at the end of the experiment^a.

Items	Yolk, %			Albumen, %		Whole egg (without shell), %
	Solids	Ether extract	Crude protein	Solids	Crude protein	Solids	Ether extract	Crude protein
Treatments^b
92%	51.92	32.14	16.19	13.80^a	11.54	26.35	10.68	13.14
96%	48.78	29.44	16.03	14.02^a	11.73	25.86	10.68	13.20
100%	48.14	28.17	16.49	14.08^a	11.69	26.15	10.54	13.37
104%	48.18	28.59	16.33	13.82^a	11.48	25.64	10.08	13.13
108%	48.34	28.16	16.46	13.39^b	11.28	25.18	10.75	12.97
SEM	1.726	1.642	0.467	0.129	0.133	0.498	0.374	0.211
P-Value	0.630	0.552	0.912	0.006	0.118	0.605	0.873	0.735
Regression analysis
Linear	0.165	0.184	0.828	0.112	0.085	0.945	0.517	0.313
Quadratic	0.253	0.316	0.937	0.013	0.136	0.694	0.558	0.235

^aThe values are means of six replicates of 6 samples (36 egg for each treatment were measured for egg quality).

^bPercentage of Hy-Line-W36 (mHy-Line 2016) Management guide recommended energy and nutrient density.

Abbreviation. SEM, Standard error of the means.

Table 7. Effect of dietary energy and nutrients density on blood metabolites of laying hens during the peak production phase of the first laying cycle determined at the end of the experiment^a.

Items	TG	Chol	HDL-C	LDL-C	UA	Cr	TP	Alb
	mg/dL						g/dL
Treatments^b
92%	116	164	48	88	2.65	0.30	5.93	2.20
96%	159	151	47	77	2.55	0.40	6.13	2.35
100%	104	159	50	78	2.43	0.40	6.20	2.38
104%	189	156	51	77	2.65	0.48	5.93	2.40
108%	108	140	46	81	2.43	0.40	6.28	2.45
SEM	24.15	8.85	2.09	2.26	0.13	0.05	0.19	0.09
P-Value	0.324	0.492	0.472	0.553	0.717	0.117	0.240	0.567
Regression analysis
Linear	0.382	0.847	0.272	0.108	0.958	0.117	0.821	0.351
Quadratic	0.388	0.610	0.257	0.142	0.961	0.190	0.945	0.559

^aThe values are means of 6 samples/treatment.

^bPercentage of Hy-Line-W36 (mHy-Line 2016) Management guide recommended energy and nutrient density.

Abbreviation. TG' triglyceride; Chol: whole cholesterol; HDL-C: high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; LDL-C: low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; UA: uric acid; Cr: creatinine; TP: total protein; and Alb: albumin.

Figure 1. Fitted broken-line plot of hen-day egg production of Hy-line-W36 laying hens during the peak production phase of the first laying cycle as a function of diet nutrients density (% of strain recommendation). (—●) Liner broken-line fitted model for 26–29 weeks of age period, Y = 95.46–0.167(104-X) × I, I = 1 (if X < 104) or I = 0 (if X > 104), p < .015, R² = 0.26, the break point occurred at 104 ± 4.63. (^…■) Liner broken-line fitted plot for 30–33 weeks of age period; Y = 90.13–0.2 (98.5-X) × I, I = 1 (if X < 98.5) or I = 0 (if X > 98.5), p < .034, R² = 0.22, the break point occurred at 98.5 ± 3.81.

Figure 2. Fitted broken-line plot of average egg weight of Hy-line-W36 laying hens during the peak production phase of the first laying cycle as a function of diet nutrients density (% of strain recommendation). Liner broken-line fitted model for 26–29 weeks of age period; Y = 60.12–0.13 (102-X) × I, I = 1 (if X < 102) or I = 0 (if X > 102), p < .008, R² = 0.30, the break point occurred at 102 ± 3.75.

Figure 3. Fitted broken-line plot of egg mass of Hy-line-W36 laying hens during the peak production phase of the first laying cycle as a function of diet nutrients density (% of strain recommendation). (—●) Liner broken-line fitted plot for 26–29 weeks of age period; Y = 57.93–0.24 (104.4-X) × I, I = 1 (if X < 104.4) or I = 0 (if X > 104.4), p < .015, R² = 0.62, the break point occurred at 104.4 ± 4.63. (^…■) Liner broken-line fitted plot for 30–33 weeks of age period; Y = 54.85–0.27 (99.4-X) × I, I = 1 (if X < 99.4) or I = 0 (if X > 99.4), p < .001, R² = 0.42, the break point occurred at 99.4 ± 3.81.

Figure 4. Fitted broken-line plot of feed conversion ratio of Hy-line-W36 laying hens during the peak production phase of the first laying cycle as a function of diet nutrients density (% of strain recommendation). (—●) Liner broken-line fitted plot for 26–29 weeks of age period; Y = 1.703 + 0.01 (105-X) × I, I = 1 (if X < 105) or I = 0 (if X > 105), p < .001, R² = 0.73, the break point occurred at 105.2 ± 1.87. (^…■) Liner broken-line fitted plot for 30–33 weeks of age period; Y = 1.8345–0.0196 (100-X) × I, I = 1 (if X < 100) or I = 0 (if X > 100), p < .001, R² = 0.60, the break point occurred at 100 ± 1.3.

Table 8. Estimated metabolisable energy and nutrients requirements of laying hens during the peak production phase of the first laying cycle by the linear broken-line fit model.

Items	ME, kcal/hen/d	CP, g/hen/day	Ava P	Dig Lys	Dig SAAs	Dig Thr
			mg/hen/day
	26–29 weeks of age
Egg production, %	279	16.55	496	836	700	593
Egg weight, g	273	16.23	487	820	686	581
Egg mass, g/b/d	280	16.61	498	839	703	595
FCR, g Feed/g Egg	282	16.74	502	846	708	600
	30–33 weeks of age
Egg production, %	269	16.00	480	809	677	574
Egg weight, g	–	–	–	–	–	–
Egg mass, g/b/d	271	16.13	484	816	683	578
FCR, g Feed/g Egg	273	16.24	487	821	687	582

Abbreviations. ME, metabolisable energy; CP, crude protein; Ca, calcium, Ava P, available phosphorus; Na, sodium; Dig Lys, digestible lysine; Dig SAAs, digestible sulphur amino acids; Dig Thr, digestible threonine; FCR: feed conversion ratio.

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