Egg production of hens fed homemade or commercial feed in a cage-free system

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate two feeds (homemade or commercial) on egg production (PP, %), egg weight (PH, g) and egg mass (MH, g bird^-1 d^-1), of hens in a cage-free system.

Methodology: Sixty hens of 37 weeks of age (Rhode Island Red and Barred Plymouth Rock) were allocated to two treatments: COM, 150 g of commercial feed bird^-1 d^-1 and CAS, 150 g of homemade feed bird^-1 d^-1. Birds were in a cage-free system with free-range in white clover (Trifolium repens L.) paddock. During 11 weeks, the PP, PH, and MH were evaluated.        

Results: PP was different between treatments (P < 0.05) the last four weeks of the study. During this period, COM birds had higher egg production (17 to 24 %) than CAS hens. Through all the study time, PH of birds in COM treatment (59.1 a 60.7 g) was higher (P < 0.05) than that of CAS (55.0 a 57.0 g). Lower MH (P < 0.05) was observed in CAS treatment (24.7 to 31.8 g bird^-1 d^-1) comparing to COM (39.7 to 41.8 g bird^-1 d^-1) in the second half of the experiment. 

Implications of the study: The results are only valid for the type of feed evaluated and under the specified experimental conditions.

Conclusions: Reduced productive performance (PP, PH, and MH) was observed when laying hens are fed homemade feed comparing to a commercial diet.