Son Jiseon, Lee Woo-Do, Kim Hee-Jin, Kang Bo-Seok, Kang Hwan-Ku
Poultry Research Institute, Rural Development Administration National Institute of Animal Science, Pyeongchang 25342, Korea.
Animals (Basel). 2022 May 2;12(9):1165. doi: 10.3390/ani12091165.
This study aimed to determine the effects of providing environmental enrichment materials—pumice stone and alfalfa hay—to laying hens in the aviary system. A total of 2196 40-week-old Hy-Line Brown laying hens were randomly allotted to three treatment groups: (1) no enrichment (control; CON), (2) enrichment with pumice stone (PS), and (3) enrichment with alfalfa hay (HAY). Each treatment comprised four replicates of 183 hens each, and four of the same materials were provided per replicate. The experiment lasted for 26 weeks. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. As a result, the PS and HAY groups demonstrated increased egg production (p < 0.001). The HAY group showed a reduced rate of mislaid eggs (p < 0.01) and produced low egg weight and pale-yellow yolk (p < 0.05). Both enrichment materials decreased blood creatinine (CRE) or lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) in the blood and resulted in a significantly lower corticosterone (CORT) level (p < 0.05). However, the feather condition scores for the laying hens were similar across all treatments (p > 0.05). In summary, although pumice stone and alfalfa hay are effective in alleviating stress and improving the production of laying hens, additional environmental improvement studies are needed to contribute to reducing pecking behaviors in poultry farming.
本研究旨在确定在笼养系统中为蛋鸡提供环境富集材料（浮石和苜蓿干草）的效果。总共2196只40周龄的海兰褐蛋鸡被随机分配到三个处理组：（1）无富集（对照组；CON），（2）用浮石富集（PS），以及（3）用苜蓿干草富集（HAY）。每个处理包括四个重复，每个重复有183只母鸡，每个重复提供四份相同的材料。实验持续了26周。自由提供饲料和水。结果，PS组和HAY组的产蛋量增加（p<0.001）。HAY组的产蛋遗漏率降低（p<0.01），且蛋重较轻，蛋黄呈浅黄色（p<0.05）。两种富集材料均降低了血液中的肌酐（CRE）或乳酸脱氢酶（LDH），并导致皮质酮（CORT）水平显著降低（p<0.05）。然而，所有处理组蛋鸡的羽毛状况评分相似（p>0.05）。总之，尽管浮石和苜蓿干草在缓解应激和提高蛋鸡生产性能方面有效，但仍需要进行更多环境改善研究，以有助于减少家禽养殖中的啄羽行为。
