Kim Chan-Ho, Lee Woo-Do, Lim Se-Jin, Yang Ka-Young, Jeon Jung-Hwan
Animal Welfare Division, National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration, Wanju 55365, Republic of Korea.
Animals (Basel). 2025 Jun 2;15(11):1635. doi: 10.3390/ani15111635.
We used an animal welfare-certified open-type layer farm and analyzed the egg production, egg quality, rectal temperature, and yolk corticosterone levels of laying hens supplied with cool water during the summer season (avg. 33 ± 3.89 °C). A total of 5750 Hy-Line Brown laying hens at 53 weeks of age were used, and two treatment groups were established: a control group (2900 hens) and a cool water treatment group (2850 hens). The water temperature of the control group was 25.3 ± 0.8 °C and the cool water was 20.1 ± 0.3 °C; all other environment parameters (lighting, ventilation, temperature, feed, etc.) were the same. The experiment was conducted for a total of 9 weeks (between July and September 2024), and during this period, the temperature-humidity index (THI) inside the breeding facility averaged 85.21, which corresponds to the cool water supply range (80 < THI < 90). As a result, the cool water treatment group maintained high productivity and showed low mortality ( < 0.05). In addition, hens provided with cool water showed high eggshell strength and low yolk corticosterone levels ( < 0.05). The core finding of this study is that the supply of cool water in summer is effective in maintaining the productivity and egg quality of laying hens and reducing HS. This is significant in that it suggests it is possible to manage laying hens in summer in a simple way, and it can also be used as basic data for designing future studies, such as using a combination of natural products including vitamins and minerals.
我们使用了一个获得动物福利认证的开放式蛋鸡养殖场，并分析了夏季（平均温度33 ± 3.89°C）供应冷水的蛋鸡的产蛋量、蛋品质、直肠温度和蛋黄皮质酮水平。总共使用了5750只53周龄的海兰褐蛋鸡，并设立了两个处理组：对照组（2900只母鸡）和冷水处理组（2850只母鸡）。对照组的水温为25.3 ± 0.8°C，冷水水温为20.1 ± 0.3°C；所有其他环境参数（光照、通风、温度、饲料等）均相同。实验共进行了9周（2024年7月至9月），在此期间，养殖设施内的温湿度指数（THI）平均为85.21，属于冷水供应范围（80 < THI < 90）。结果，冷水处理组保持了较高的生产力，死亡率较低（< 0.05）。此外，供应冷水的母鸡蛋壳强度高，蛋黄皮质酮水平低（< 0.05）。本研究的核心发现是，夏季供应冷水有效地维持了蛋鸡的生产力和蛋品质，并降低了热应激。这具有重要意义，因为它表明可以用简单的方法在夏季管理蛋鸡，并且还可以用作设计未来研究的基础数据，例如使用包括维生素和矿物质在内的天然产物组合。
