• Animal Bioscience
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• 제34권5호
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• pp.811-823
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• 2021

Objective: Eggshell color is an important indicator of egg quality for consumers, especially for brown eggs. Various factors related to laying hens and their environment affect brown eggshell coloration. However, there have been no studies investigating hepatic functions of laying hens with variable intensity of brown eggshell color. Therefore, this study was aimed to identify potential factors affecting brown eggshell coloration in aged laying hens at the hepatic transcriptomic level. Methods: Five hundred 92-wk-old Hy-line Brown laying hens were screened to select laying hens with different intensity of brown eggshell color based on eggshell color fans. Based on eggshell color scores, hens with dark brown eggshells (DBE; eggshell color fan score = 14.8) and hens with light brown eggshells (LBE; eggshell color fan score = 9.7) were finally selected for the liver sampling. We performed RNA-seq analysis using the liver samples through the paired-end sequencing libraries. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) profiling was carried out to identify their biological meaning by bioinformatics. Results: A total of 290 DEGs were identified with 196 being up-regulated and 94 being down-regulated in DBE groups as compared to LBE groups. The Kyoto encyclopedia of genes and genomes (KEGG) analysis revealed that these DEGs belong to several biological pathways including herpes simplex infection (toll-like receptor 3 [TLR3], cyclin-dependent kinase 1, etc.) and influenza A (TLR3, radical S-adenosyl methionine domain containing 2, myxovirus [influenza virus] resistance 1, etc.). Genes related to stress response (ceremide kinase like) and nutrient metabolism (phosphoenolpyruvate carboxy-kinase 1, methylmalonic aciduria [cobalamin deficiency] cblB type, glycine receptor alpha 2, solute carrier family 7 member 11, etc.) were also identified to be differentially expressed. Conclusion: The current results provide new insights regarding hepatic molecular functions related to different intensity of brown eggshell color in aged laying hens. These insights will contribute to future studies aiming to optimize brown eggshell coloration in aged laying hens.

• 농업과학연구
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• 제46권3호
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• pp.569-577
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• 2019

The current experiment was conducted to compare nutrient utilization in the aged laying hens with different eggshell strengths or different intensities of brown eggshell color. Two metabolic trials with 96-week-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens were conducted. Twelve hens with a strong eggshell strength (SES) and 12 hens with a weak eggshell strength (WES) were selected and used in the first experiment, whereas 12 hens with dark brown eggshells (DBE) and 12 hens with light brown eggshells (LBE) were selected and used in the second experiment. All hens were fed a common commercial layer diet. Diets included chromic oxide as an indigestible marker to determine the apparent total tract retention (ATTR) of the gross energy (GE), dry matter, acid-hydrolyzed ether extract, nitrogen, neutral detergent fiber, acid detergent fiber, ash, and minerals. The results indicate that the ATTR of Ca in the aged laying hens with SES (59.7%) was greater (p < 0.05) than in the aged laying hens with WES (48.6%). However, the ATTR of the GE and other nutrients was not different between the hens with SES or WES. There were no differences in the ATTR of GE and nutrients between the hens with DBE or LBE. In conclusion, aged laying hens with SES have a greater ability to utilize dietary Ca than those with WES, indicating that the extent of dietary Ca utilization determines the eggshell strength of aged laying hens. However, nutrient utilization in diets may have little impact on eggshell brown coloration in aged laying hens.

• 한국가금학회지
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• 제43권2호
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• pp.97-103
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• 2016

This study aimed of effects of replacing maize with rice or brown rice on laying performance, egg quality, and apparent fecal digestibility of nutrient in Hy-Line Brown laying hens. A total of 200, 25-week old Hy-Line Brown laying hens were randomly assigned to one of 5 treatments, each of which was replicated 4 times. Four experimental diets that were formulated two different grains (brown rice or rice) with two inclusion levels of (15 and 30%) as a replacement of maize. The experimental period was 8 weeks. During the experiment, hens were provided with feed and water ad libitum and were exposed to a 16:8=L:D lighting schedule. There were no differences in feed intake, egg weight, and egg mass during the 8 weeks of the feeding trial among groups. However, hen-day egg production was greater (P<0.05) for Brown rice treatment groups than that for basal and rice treatment groups. In addition, the supplementation of brown rice or rice did not have an effect on eggshell strength, eggshell thickness, and HU during of the feeding trial (Table 4). However, egg yolk color was less (P<0.05) for basal treatment groups than that for among treatment group. ATTD of dry matter (DM) and crude fat were greater (P<0.05) for brown rice 15 treatment than for rice 30 treatment. Crude protein (CP) was greater (P<0.05) for brown rice 15 treatment than for basal treatment. In conclusion, brown rice or rice grains is a good alternative energy feedstuff and can be used in laying hens, totally replacing maize, without any negative effect on the laying performance, egg quality, and nutrient digestibility.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제25권5호
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• pp.717-724
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• 2012

Color is one of the perch properties. This study was conducted to investigate the general behaviors and perching behaviors in laying hens under different group size (stocking density), and to understand the perch color (black, white or brown) preference of hens during the night. A total of 390 Hyline Brown laying hens was used, and randomly allocated to three treatments: individual group (G1), group of four hens (G4), and group of eight hens (G8), respectively. There were 30 replicates in each group. The hens in G1, G4 and G8 groups were put into the test cages in which three colored perches were simultaneously provided and allowed for four days of habituation in the new cages. Hens behaviors were recorded using cameras with infrared light sources for the following periods: 8:00 to 10:00; 14:00 to 16:00; 19:00 to 21:00; 23:30 to 0:30 on the fifth day after transferring the birds into the test cages. The behaviors of hens in every time period were collected and analyzed, and hens positions on the test perches during mid-night were recorded. The results showed that, group size (stocking density) had significant effect on most of the general behaviors of laying hens except exploring behavior. There were great differences in most of the general behaviors during different time periods. In the preference test of perch color during night, the hens showed no clear preference for white, black or brown perches. For perching behaviors, perching time and frequency of transferring from one perch to another was higher on black perches than on white or brown perches in individual groups. In G4 groups, the hens spent more time on white perches during daytime and more frequent transferring during night compared with black or brown perches. The frequency of jumping upon and down from white perches was higher in G8 groups. It can be concluded that although the group sizes in the cage significantly affected most of the general behaviors, we found that no preference of perch color was shown by the caged laying hens in the different group sizes tested in this study.

• 한국가금학회지
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• 제26권4호
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• pp.247-252
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• 1999

This experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of the laying hens on the immune response against bovine serum albumin(BSA) in egg yolk. Total 45 laying hens were divided into three groups according to breeds (White Leghorn, ISA Brown, Native hen). They were fed the experimental diet for 12 weeks. Immune response were examind in egg yolk from three groups of hens injected with BSA. The results obtained from this work were summaried as follows : 1. The weight of egg yolk and the percentage of hen-day production in the ISA Brown hens are greater than those in the Native hens and the White Leghons. 2. IgY concentrations in eggs from hens immunized with BSA were not different among the breeds laying hens. 3. The anti-BSA antibody activities determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in the egg yolk were similar between the White-Leghorn and ISA Brown hens, but Native hens tended to decrease in 20∼50 days respectively. Therefore, the weight of egg yolk and the percentage of hen-day production in the ISA Brown hens are greater than those in the Native hens and the White Leghons will be as important factors for an efficient production of IgY.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제31권10호
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• pp.1654-1659
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• 2018

Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary supplementation with fermented and non-fermented brown algae by-products on the laying performance, egg quality, relative organ weight, and blood profile of laying hens. Methods: Hy-Line Brown chickens (n = 180; 70-week-old) were randomly divided into 5 groups with 4 replicates per group (3 hens per cage, 4 cages per replicate), and fed with 5 experimental diets, namely the basal control diet (CON) or the control diet supplemented with 0.5% brown seaweed (BS), 0.5% seaweed fusiforme (SF), 0.5% fermented brown seaweed (FBS), or 0.5% fermented seaweed fusiforme (FSF), for 4 weeks. Results: Egg production rate and egg mass were greater in the BS group than in the other groups (p<0.05), and the SF and FSF groups had greater egg production than the control group (p<0.05). Egg weight was higher in the BS group than in the other groups (p<0.05). There were no differences in eggshell color, egg yolk color, eggshell strength, or eggshell thickness among the groups. There was no difference in Haugh units among the treatment groups, except for the FSF group, which had a significantly lower value (p<0.05). The non-fermented groups had greater relative organ weights, particularly the liver and cecum, than the other groups (p<0.05). Regarding blood profile, the supplemented-diet groups had higher albumin levels than the control group (p<0.05). The FBS group had higher total cholesterol and triglyceride levels than the other groups (p<0.05). The BS and FBS groups had higher glutamic pyruvic transaminase levels than the other groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that dietary brown algae supplementation can improve egg-laying performance; however, supplementation with fermented seaweeds had no positive effect on the egg-laying performance of hens.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제29권10호
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• pp.1458-1463
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• 2016

A 42-d study with 384 Hy-line brown laying hens was conducted to assess the effects of dietary octacosanol supplementation on laying performance, egg quality and blood metabolites of laying hens. Hens were randomly allocated into 4 dietary groups of 8 cages each, which were fed basal diet supplemented with 0 (Control), 9 (OCT9), 18 (OCT18), and 27 (OCT27) mg/kg diet of octacosanol isolated from rice bran, respectively. The experiment was conducted in an environmental controlled house and hens were fed twice daily for ad libitum intake. Laying performance was determined over the 42-d period, and egg quality as well as blood metabolites were estimated on d 21 and d 42. Diets in OCT18 and OCT27 increased (p<0.05) laying rate, egg weight, egg mass, egg albumen height, Haugh unit and eggshell strength on d 42, but decreased (p<0.05) feed conversion rate and levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride and low density lipoprotein cholesterol in the serum as compared to those of Control. Feed intake, yolk color, yolk diameter, eggshell thickness and high density lipoprotein cholesterol were similar (p>0.05) among treatments. Results demonstrate that supplementing 18 to 27 mg/kg diet of rice bran octacosanol can improve laying rate and egg quality and reduce blood lipid of laying hens.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
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• 제64권5호
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• pp.863-870
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• 2022

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of octacosanol (OCT) extracted from triticale sprout on laying performance, egg quality, and blood parameters of laying hens. A total of 192, Hyline brown laying hens aged 43 weeks were divided into 4 dietary groups of 48 birds each and they were randomly subjected to one of the experimental diets containing OCT at the levels of none, 10, 20, and 30 mg/kg of diet. All birds were fed with isoenergetic and isonitrogenous mash diets for 6 weeks. The result showed that hens supplemented with 20 and 30 mg/kg OCT in diet significantly increased (p < 0.05) egg production than those fed with the basal diet. OCT concentration in the egg yolk of hens fed with 20 and 30 mg/kg OCT was significantly higher than in those fed the control diet. Hens fed 20 and 30 mg/kg OCT exhibited greater high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and interleukin (IL) concentrations and reduced serum concentrations of cholesterol and triglyceride compared to those fed with 0 and 10 mg/kg OCT. This study indicates that supplementing the diet of laying hens with 20 and 30 mg/kg of OCT can improve the performance, egg quality, and health status of laying hens.

• 한국축산시설환경학회지
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.133-140
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• 2013

The aim of this study was to investigate the behavioral changes of laying hens in an aviary system. In this study, 500 laying hens (Hyline brown) were held in an aviary system in a open-type poultry house. The behaviors of laying hens were recorded using CCD cameras and a digital video recorder. The data were scanned every 2 min to obtain an instantaneous behavioral sample. In the behaviors of laying hens, 'Feeding' and 'Drinking' increased from 3 d placing chick and stabilized after 5 d placing chick. 'Perching' increased from 19:00 to 05:00, while 'Nest visiting' increased from 06:00 to 18:00. 'Aggressive behavior' decreased gradually after 5 d placing chick. These results suggest that the behaviors of laying hens are changed rapidly for about 5 days after placing chick and the behaviors of the laying hens are almost stabilized at 5 d placing chick.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• 제32권11호
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• pp.1715-1724
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• 2019

Objective: As laying hens become aged, laying performance and egg quality are generally impaired. One of the practical methods to rejuvenate production and egg quality of aged laying hens with decreasing productivity is a forced molting. However, the changes in intestinal microbiota after forced molting of aged hens are not clearly known. The aim of the present study was to analyze the changes in excreta bacterial communities after forced molting of aged laying hens. Methods: A total of one hundred 66-wk-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens were induced to molt by a 2-d water removal and an 11-d fasting until egg production completely ceased. The excreta samples of 16 hens with similar body weight were collected before and immediately after molting. Excreta bacterial communities were analyzed by high-throughput sequencing of bacterial 16S rRNA genes. Results: Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria were the three major bacterial phyla in pre-molting and immediate post-molting hens, accounting for more than 98.0%. Lactobacillus genus had relatively high abundance in both group, but decreased by molting (62.3% in premolting and 24.9% in post-molting hens). Moreover, pathogenic bacteria such as Enterococcus cecorum and Escherichia coli were more abundant in immediate post-molting hens than in pre-molting hens. Forced molting influenced the alpha diversity, with higher Chao1 (p = 0.012), phylogenetic diversity whole tree (p = 0.014), observed operational taxonomic unit indices (p = 0.006), and Simpson indices (p<0.001), which indicated that forced molting increased excreta bacterial richness of aged laying hens. Conclusion: This study improves the current knowledge of bacterial community alterations in the excreta by forced molting in aged laying hens, which can provide increasing opportunity to develop novel dietary and management skills for improving the gastrointestinal health of aged laying hens after molting.