Comparison of Several Induced Molting Methods on Subsequent Performance of Single Comb White Leghorn Hens

Seventy-two-week-old Single Comb White Leghorn hens were induced to molt by 11 different methods 1) to determine the utility of molt-inducing procedures that employ full feeding, limited feeding, and fasting and 2) to determine the postmolt performance of hens induced to molt by fasting to varying degrees of body weight reduction (BWR) then fed postfast, prelay (PF-PL) diets varying in nutrient density. Induced molt treatments were full feeding of 10 and 15% guar meal diets to 30% BWR; limited feeding by withholding feed to 30% BWR, except for 6-hr feeding periods on every 3rd, 4th, and 5th recurring day; fasting to 25, 30, or 35% BWR then feeding either a pullet developer ration or a fortified molt ration (FR) for 21 days. Egg production, egg weight, shell quality, Haugh unit, feed consumption, and mortality were recorded for 33 weeks. Molt treatments produced few significant differences; nonmolted control hens had overall poor performance. Full feeding of the 15% guar meal diet caused a slow cessation and reinitiation of lay with acceptable lay performance. The 10% guar meal diet reduced livability. All recurring day, limited-feeding treatments conserved feed during the first 35 days of molt induction. The 3rd and 5th recurring day-feeding treatments were particularly effective and had acceptable lay performance and feed efficiency. Neither level of BWR nor type of PF-PL diet significantly affected postmolt performance. The 30% BWR-FR induced-molt method produced superior (but not significantly) postmolt lay performance.