Nest lining in small-group furnished cages for laying hens

Abstract

In small-group furnished cages with nests lined with artificial turf, a high use of nest and acceptable egg quality are generally achieved. However, artificial turf has drawbacks, such as not letting manure through and not being cleanable in position. Therefore, a more perforated nest-lining material would be preferable given that nest acceptance and egg quality are not impaired. The main aim of the present study, comprising 2 trials, was to evaluate layers' use of nests, egg quality, and bird exterior appearance in furnished cages with nests lined with artificial turf, plastic netting, or with the cage floor left bare. The furnished cages used in this study housed 8 or 10 layers; the hybrids included were Hy-line White and Hy-line Brown in trial 1 and lohmann selected leghorn and lohmann Brown in trial 2. In this study, plastic netting was as good as the artificial turf for all the aspects compared, whereas the bare cage floor as a nest bottom resulted in lower use of the nest and tendencies for inferior egg quality. Hybrid differences were found in most of the traits studied. © 2013 Poultry Science Association, Inc.