산란종계에서 케이지와 평사사육 방법이 생산성에 미치는 영향

The present experiment was carried out to investigate whether either cage or floor housing system could influence laying performance such as egg laying production, mortality, fertility and viable female chicks hatched in laying hen parent stocks (PS). For this study, PS farms were selected with identical farm managements except for the rearing system. All PS were supplied same feed and raised in windowless houses. During 21 to 69 weeks of egg production, laying performance was monitored at 4-week interval and settable eggs selected were incubated. Egg production at 25 to 37 weeks was superior (p 0.05) by rearing types. Fertility rate during laying period was kept higher (p<0.05) in floor-raised PS compared with those raised in cage housing system. Of note, viable day-old female chicks hatched were also higher (p<0.05) in PS raised in floor vs. cage system. It is concluded that PS reared on floor system performed better than those raised in cage housing system. As far as we know, this is the first report to comparatively provide the laying and reproductive performance of laying hen parent stock raised on cage and floor housing systems.