Mitigating heat stress in laying hens: Effects of strategic feed restriction on egg quality traits
WORLD'S POULTRY SCIENCE JOURNAL, cilt.1, ss.225, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Özet
- Cilt numarası: 1
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Dergi Adı: WORLD'S POULTRY SCIENCE JOURNAL
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Natural Science Collection (ProQuest), Health Research Premium Collection (ProQuest), Scopus, Materials Science & Engineering Collection (ProQuest), Technology Collection (ProQuest), Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), BIOSIS, CAB Abstracts
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.225
- Bursa Uludağ Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Heat stress is a major challenge in laying hen production, negatively affecting egg quality, animal welfare, and economic sustainability. This study evaluated whether feed restriction to avoid peak thermal load could modify the egg quality traits in laying hens exposed to summer heat stress. A total of 3,000 Lohmann Brown laying hens were randomly assigned to two experimental groups (n = 1,500 per group; three replicates per treatment) in an aviary system. The control group (CONT) had ad libitum feed access, whereas the treatment group (TRT) experienced complete feed withdrawal between 1100 h and 1700 h, corresponding to the hottest period of the day; feed access resumed during the rest of the day. Water was provided ad libitum. Data were analyzed using mixed-effects models in PROC GLIMMIX (SAS 9.4), including treatment (CONT vs. TRT), time (beginning vs. end), and their interaction as fixed effects, with egg nested within treatment included as a random effect. Hens subjected to feed restriction, maintained higher body weight compared to ad libitum-fed hens (2009.7 ± 16.6 g vs. 1952.8 ± 16.6 g; p < 0.05), indicating improved tolerance to heat stress. The effect of time significantly reduced albumen height, albumen index, Haugh unit, yolk height, and yolk index (p < 0.05), reflecting that the negative impact of heat stress. Feed restriction did not significantly affect internal egg quality traits (p > 0.05). The interaction of treatment × time effect on albumen height, albumen index, Haugh unit, yolk index and yolk weight were significant (p ≤ 0.05). In conclusion, feed restriction represents a practical, low-cost management strategy that buffers the decline in internal egg quality traits during heat stress. Incorporating feed restriction methods, may enhance the internal egg quality traits of laying hens in aviary systems during hot summer conditions.