The relationship between different laying hen housing systems in Lithuania and egg production quality and chemical composition

Figures & data

Table 1. Feed ingredient composition and nutrient content (28–48 weeks of age)

Ingredient	Dosage (%)
Wheat	30.26
Maize	30.00
Soybean meal	14.73
Limestone	8.88
Sunflower meal	6.00
Vegetable oil	4.05
Rapeseed meal	4.00
Monocalcium phosphate	0.81
Vitamin-mineral premix^1	0.55
Sodium bicarbonate	0.21
Pentacid liquid	0.20
Sodium chloride	0.20
Wheat flour	0.10
Antioxidant	0.01
Antioxidant	0.01
Qualitative indicators	Dosage
Crude protein (%)^2	16.30
Crude fat (%)^2	6.12
Crude fibber (%)^2	5.00
Ca (%)^2	3.65
Lysine (%)	0.80
P (%)^2	0.57
Methionine (%)	0.46
Cl (%)	0.23
Na (%)	0.17
Choline (ppm)	400.00
Metabolic energy (MJ/k)	11.30

Note: ¹Provided for 1 kg of feed: vit. A − 11.000 IU, vit. D3–2.500 TV, vit. E − 40.0 mg, vit. K3–2.50 mg, vit. B1–2.50 mg, vit. B2–7.00 mg, vit. B6–4.00 mg, vit. B12–25.0 μg, nicotinic acid − 55.0 mg, pantothenic acid − 15.0 mg, folic acid −1.75 mg, biotin −100 μg, choline chloride − 400 mg, Fe − 70.0 mg, Mn − 100 mg, Zn − 60.0 mg, Cu − 6.00 mg, I − 0.50 mg, Se − 0.20 mg, Co − 0.10 mg.

²Calculated values were according to meeting the nutrient and energy requirements for Lohman Brown Classic laying hens (Dale, 1994).

Figure 1. Microclimate parameters of different housing systems. Note: ¹ Recommended norm according to the Lohmann Brown Classic Line Combination Guidelines (The Lohman Tierzucht guide, 2019).

Table 2. Average laying hen productivity traits while kept in enriched cages and barn housing systems at 28, 32, 36, 40, 44, and 48 weeks of age

		Housing system^2
Item^1	Trial period	Enriched cage	Barn	SEM^3	p-value
Number of laying hens (unit)	28 weeks of age	15 000	15 000	-	-
Body weight (g)	28 weeks of age	1819.33^a	1873.00^b	14.58	0.037
	32 weeks of age	1861.33	1867.00	3.89	0.534
	36 weeks of age	1894.00^a	1871.67^b	5.52	0.017
	40 weeks of age	1932.00	1908.00	7.62	0.164
	44 weeks of age	1938.33	1941.00	2.43	0.831
	48 weeks of age	1939.67	1942.00	7.19	0.094
Liveability (%)	28 weeks of age	99.71^a	99.29^b	0.10	0.011
	32 weeks of age	99.47^a	98.74^b	0.17	0.002
	36 weeks of age	99.17^a	98.06^b	0.26	0.006
	40 weeks of age	98.79^a	97.07^b	0.39	0.003
	44 weeks of age	98.43^a	96.02^b	0.54	0.002
	48 weeks of age	98.13^a	94.96^b	0.71	0.001
Rate of lay (%)	28 weeks of age	91.71	87.22	1.59	0.179
	32 weeks of age	94.83^a	90.78^b	0.96	0.004
	36 weeks of age	94.48^a	93.41^b	0.25	0.002
	40 weeks of age	94.47^a	92.59^b	0.43	0.001
	44 weeks of age	93.83^a	91.53^b	0.52	0.000
	48 weeks of age	79.32^a	90.30^b	6.37	0.017
Average weight of 1 egg (g)	28 weeks of age	58.89	59.10	0.55	0.379
	32 weeks of age	61.81	61.12	0.25	0.181
	36 weeks of age	62.70	63.12	0.17	0.236
	40 weeks of age	62.70^a	63.40^b	0.18	0.024
	44 weeks of age	64.22	63.90	0.10	0.158
	48 weeks of age	65.35^a	63.94^b	0.33	0.008
Feed consumption (g/bird)	28 weeks of age	114.66	116.98	1.35	0.452
	32 weeks of age	120.03^a	126.91^b	1.78	0.026
	36 weeks of age	120.09^a	136.46^b	3.76	0.001
	40 weeks of age	120.72^a	136.97^b	3.66	0.002
	44 weeks of age	121.37^a	135.02^b	3.06	0.000
	48 weeks of age	116.52^a	136.53^b	4.39	0.017
FCR	28 weeks of age	2.13^a	1.51^b	0.36	0.020
	32 weeks of age	2.05^a	2.29^b	0.05	0.002
	36 weeks of age	2.31^a	2.03^b	0.07	0.002
	40 weeks of age	2.00^a	2.33^b	0.07	0.000
	44 weeks of age	2.01^a	2.31^b	0.07	0.000
	48 weeks of age	2.04^a	2.36^b	0.07	0.001

Note: ¹FCR, feed conversion ratio. ²Means with different superscript letters (a—b) in a row were significantly different (p < 0.05). ³ SEM, standard error of the means.

Table 3. Quality features of egg from enriched cages and barn housing systems at 28, 32, 36, 40, 44, and 48 weeks of age (n = 60 eggs/housing system at each trial period)

		Housing system^1
Item	Trial period	Enriched cage	Barn	SEM^2	p-value
Egg weight (g)	28 weeks of age	59.85^a	62.18^b	0.53	0.026
	32 weeks of age	60.90^a	66.49^b	0.69	0.000
	36 weeks of age	62.09^a	64.71^b	0.66	0.048
	40 weeks of age	63.42	65.21	0.48	0.062
	44 weeks of age	65.33	65.37	0.59	0.956
	48 weeks of age	64.89	66.56	0.63	0.187
Yolk weight (g)	28 weeks of age	13.22^a	15.04^b	0.19	0.000
	32 weeks of age	14.14^a	16.79^b	0.25	0.000
	36 weeks of age	14.83^a	16.70^b	0.24	0.000
	40 weeks of age	16.51	16.31	0.14	0.491
	44 weeks of age	16.28	16.34	0.20	0.869
	48 weeks of age	15.80	15.76	0.20	0.928
Albumen height (mm)	28 weeks of age	7.88^a	7.03^b	0.18	0.016
	32 weeks of age	8.07^a	7.13^b	0.17	0.004
	36 weeks of age	7.66	7.27	0.13	0.135
	40 weeks of age	7.20	7.59	0.12	0.102
	44 weeks of age	6.33	6.01	0.13	0.205
	48 weeks of age	7.40	7.55	0.14	0.592
Haugh unit	28 weeks of age	88.23^a	82.59^b	1.18	0.016
	32 weeks of age	89.61^a	81.79^b	0.14	0.000
	36 weeks of age	86.71	83.86	0.74	0.054
	40 weeks of age	83.55	85.65	0.78	0.180
	44 weeks of age	76.87	74.50	1.04	0.257
	48 weeks of age	84.43	84.50	0.99	0.971
Shell strength (N)	28 weeks of age	47.44	43.81	0.10	0.061
	32 weeks of age	49.61^a	45.67^b	0.84	0.018
	36 weeks of age	44.40	44.78	0.11	0.825
	40 weeks of age	41.69	40.18	0.87	0.394
	44 weeks of age	42.70	40.83	0.93	0.319
	48 weeks of age	40.95^a	46.27^b	0.93	0.003
Shell weight with membrane (g)	28 weeks of age	8.41	8.21	0.11	0.356
	32 weeks of age	6.36	6.61	0.08	0.097
	36 weeks of age	8.57	8.69	0.09	0.516
	40 weeks of age	8.68	8.63	0.12	0.826
	44 weeks of age	8.55	8.60	0.09	0.755
	48 weeks of age	8.57^a	9.10^b	0.11	0.014
Shell weight without membrane (g)	28 weeks of age	6.14	6.39	0.08	0.128
	32 weeks of age	8.77	8.65	0.10	0.568
	36 weeks of age	6.59	6.57	0.06	0.849
	40 weeks of age	6.25	6.51	0.07	0.064
	44 weeks of age	6.58	6.47	0.08	0.485
	48 weeks of age	6.31^a	6.60^b	0.07	0.029
Shell thickness in the middle (mm)	28 weeks of age	0.48	0.49	0.01	0.811
	32 weeks of age	0.45	0.47	0.01	0.276
	36 weeks of age	0.49	0.49	0.01	0.990
	40 weeks of age	0.51	0.52	0.01	0.600
	44 weeks of age	0.51	0.52	0.01	0.655
	48 weeks of age	0.53	0.54	0.01	0.978
Yolk colour intensity	28 weeks of age	9.26	8.91	0.10	0.069
	32 weeks of age	8.94	8.81	0.12	0.436
	36 weeks of age	10.49^a	10.03^b	0.11	0.031
	40 weeks of age	9.96^a	10.50^b	0.09	0.016
	44 weeks of age	12.18^a	10.86^b	0.19	0.000
	48 weeks of age	11.44	11.11	0.10	0.110
Yolk colour by coordinates
L*	28 weeks of age	58.96	59.27	0.20	0.453
	32 weeks of age	58.65^a	59.53^b	0.21	0.038
	36 weeks of age	56.16^a	57.94^b	0.29	0.002
	40 weeks of age	64.53^a	62.19^b	0.25	0.000
	44 weeks of age	61.19^a	62.01^b	0.18	0.022
	48 weeks of age	60.21^a	61.97^b	0.22	0.000
a*	28 weeks of age	−0.19	−0.68	0.28	0.388
	32 weeks of age	0.43	0.19	0.30	0.698
	36 weeks of age	6.42^a	2.27^b	0.53	0.000
	40 weeks of age	0.88^a	10.92^b	0.80	0.000
	44 weeks of age	12.05	11.08	0.46	0.296
	48 weeks of age	15.01^a	8.87^b	0.79	0.000
b*	28 weeks of age	37.19	36.69	0.45	0.582
	32 weeks of age	41.24	42.42	0.49	0.236
	36 weeks of age	41.99	39.76	0.85	0.195
	40 weeks of age	41.49^a	52.21^b	0.82	0.000
	44 weeks of age	50.34^a	53.29^b	0.42	0.000
	48 weeks of age	50.80	49.11	0.50	0.093

Note: ¹Means with different superscript letters (a—b) in a row were significantly different (p < 0.05). ²SEM, standard error of the means.

Table 4. The chemical composition of egg yolks from enriched cage and barn laying hen housing systems at the trial’s start, middle, and end (n = 10 yolk mixtures/housing system at each trial period)

		Housing system
Item (%)^1	Trial period^2	Enriched cage	Barn	SEM^3	p-value
Dry matter	Start	50.69	51.04	0.27	0.396
	Middle	50.19	50.66	0.36	0.130
	End	49.74	50.60	0.37	0.254
Protein	Start	18.84	19.11	0.20	0.776
	Middle	18.84	19.24	0.34	0.953
	End	18.98	19.50	0.37	0.095
Fat	Start	29.82	30.06	0.32	0.923
	Middle	29.31	29.98	0.37	0.876
	End	29.07	29.77	0.42	0.448
Ash	Start	1.82	1.82	0.04	0.729
	Middle	1.79	1.76	0.03	0.148
	End	1.79	1.77	0.03	0.191

Note: ¹DM, dry matter. ²Trial period, start = 28 weeks of age; middle = 38 weeks of age; end = 48 weeks of age. ³SEM, standard error of the means.

Table 5. Fatty acid profiles of egg yolks from enriched cage and barn laying hen housing systems at the trial’s start, middle, and end (n = 10 yolk mixtures/housing system at each trial period)

		Housing system^3
Item^1	Trial period^2	Enriched cage	Barn	SEM^4	p-value
Fatty acid (% of the total fatty acids content)
C14:0	Start	0.99	0.94	0.11	0.086
	Middle	1.54	1.41	0.09	0.508
	End	1.27	1.05	0.13	0.117
C16:0	Start	23.77	24.35	0.17	0.367
	Middle	24.05	23.61	0.17	0.209
	End	24.05	23.22	0.17	0.390
C16:1	Start	1.45	1.34	0.05	0.356
	Middle	0.56	0.60	0.03	0.501
	End	1.16	1.02	0.05	0.534
C17:0	Start	0.14^a	0.10^b	0.02	0.039
	Middle	0.17	0.17	0.01	0.792
	End	0.18	0.15	0.01	0.603
C18:0	Start	10.77	11.15	0.14	0.953
	Middle	10.30	9.60	0.34	0.030
	End	10.57	10.91	0.10	0.183
C18:1	Start	1.22	1.03	0.29	0.236
	Middle	1.29	1.28	0.33	0.872
	End	0.97	1.04	0.34	0.431
C18:1 n-9	Start	31.15	30.09	0.18	0.588
	Middle	32.23	32.39	0.03	0.821
	End	30.90	29.90	0.03	0.325
C18:2 n-6	Start	22.33	22.90	0.27	0.687
	Middle	21.79	23.43	0.45	0.060
	End	23.27	23.76	0.25	0.076
C18:3 n-3	Start	0.46	0.50	0.02	0.231
	Middle	0.46	0.47	0.03	0.822
	End	0.41	0.45	0.03	0.083
C20:1	Start	0.18	0.14	0.03	0.891
	Middle	0.24	0.29	0.03	0.479
	End	0.22	0.16	0.02	0.072
C20:2	Start	0.23	0.23	0.05	0.340
	Middle	1.13	0.91	0.13	0.415
	End	0.30	0.27	0.03	0.511
C20:3 n-6	Start	0.14	0.20	0.02	0.196
	Middle	0.34	0.16	0.10	0.386
	End	0.13	0.15	0.01	0.750
C20:4 n-6	Start	3.03^a	2.78^b	0.18	0.026
	Middle	2.50	2.42	0.10	0.682
	End	2.87	3.16	0.09	0.444
C20:5 n-3	Start	2.96^a	2.83^b	0.18	0.006
	Middle	2.50	2.42	0.10	0.682
	End	2.87	3.16	0.09	0.444
C22:6 n-3	Start	0.82	0.75	0.09	0.066
	Middle	0.70	0.61	0.04	0.296
	End	0.39	0.68	0.08	0.288
C24:1	Start	0.36^a	0.67^b	0.15	0.029
	Middle	0.20	0.23	0.02	0.420
	End	0.44	0.92	0.13	0.075
SFA	Start	35.67^a	36.55^b	0.28	0.013
	Middle	36.06	34.80	0.46	0.177
	End	36.06	35.33	0.30	0.184
MUFA	Start	34.36	33.26	0.35	0.685
	Middle	34.52	34.79	0.37	0.734
	End	33.69	33.04	0.38	0.776
PUFA	Start	29.97	30.19	0.41	0.098
	Middle	29.43	30.42	0.28	0.073
	End	30.25^a	31.63^b	0.40	0.049
PUFA/SFA	Start	0.84^a	0.83^b	0.02	0.043
	Middle	0.82	0.88	0.02	0.087
	End	0.84^a	0.90^b	0.02	0.010

Note:¹ SFA, saturated fatty acids; MUFA, monounsaturated fatty acids; PUFA, polyunsaturated fatty acids. ²Trial period, start = 28 weeks of age; middle = 38 weeks of age; end = 48 weeks of age. ³Means with different superscript letters (a—b) in a row were significantly different (p < 0.05). ⁴SEM, standard error of the means.

Table 6. The total content of essential fatty acids n-3 and n-6, their ratio and cholesterol levels in egg yolks from enriched cage and barn laying hen housing systems at the trial’s start, middle, and end (n = 10 yolk mixtures/housing system at each trial period)

		Housing system^2
Item	Trial period^1	Enriched cage	Barn	SEM^3	p-value
Fatty acid (% of the total fatty acids content)
n-3	Start	4.24^a	4.08^b	0.24	0.041
	Middle	3.66	3.60	0.15	0.609
	End	3.67	4.29	0.15	0.346
n-6	Start	25.50	25.88	0.25	0.653
	Middle	24.63	26.01	0.40	0.082
	End	26.27	27.07	0.31	0.094
n-6/n-3	Start	6.04	7.01	0.58	0.093
	Middle	6.98^a	7.50^b	0.36	0.025
	End	7.23	6.34	0.23	0.379
Cholesterol level (mg/g)	Start	8.89	8.58	0.17	0.112
	Middle	8.43	8.66	0.16	0.353
	End	8.66	8.96	0.13	0.116

Note: ¹Trial period, start = 28 weeks of age; middle = 38 weeks of age; end = 48 weeks of age. ²Means with different superscript letters (a—b) in a row were significantly different (p < 0.05). ³SEM, standard error of the means.

Figure 2. (A) Sensory profile of albumen; (B) sensory profile of yolk while Lohmann Brown Classic laying hens were kept in enriched cages and barn housing systems.

Dale, N. (1994). National Research Council Nutrient Requirements of Poultry - Ninth Revised Edition (1994). The Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 3(1), 101. https://doi.org/10.1093/japr/3.1.101

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