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The Impact of Lighting Regimen and Feeding Program during Rearing on Hy-Line Brown Pullets at the End of Rearing and during Early Lay
by
, ,
Wendy Isabelle Muir
1,*,
Yeasmin Akter
1,
Sebastian Kai Yi Kho
2,
Kenneth Bruerton
3 and
Peter John Groves
2 1
School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia
2
Sydney School of Veterinary Science, Faculty of Science, The University of Sydney, Camden, NSW 2570, Australia
3
Independent Researcher, Elanora, QLD 4221, Australia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Animals 2024, 14(19), 2850; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani14192850
Submission received: 4 September 2024
/
Revised: 25 September 2024
/
Accepted: 30 September 2024
/
Published: 3 October 2024
(This article belongs to the Section Poultry)
Simple Summary
The body weight of pullets (i.e., sexually immature chickens) immediately before they start to lay eggs can impact their subsequent egg production, feed intake, and feed efficiency. Therefore, pullets of a particular size may be required to meet performance targets throughout their egg-laying phase. This study evaluated lighting (hours of light/day) and feeding programs during rearing as tools to grow pullets to a designated size. Their performance was then monitored throughout their early egg-laying period. Compared to restricted feeding and shorter lighting/day, ad libitum (ad lib) feeding—or free access to feed—together with longer hours of light/day resulted in higher feed intake and heavier pullets. However, pullets fed ad lib but with fewer hours of light were the first to start to lay eggs. Interestingly, pullets reared with ad lib feeding continued to consume more feed throughout their early egg-laying period. They also produced more eggs, which were heavier than the eggs from hens that, as pullets, had been restricted to lower feed intake during rearing. Hence, lighting and feeding regimens during rearing are practical tools that can achieve specific pullet weight, feed intake, hen weight, egg production, and egg size throughout the early egg-laying period of commercial chickens.
Abstract
As hen body weight (BW) impacts egg weight (EW) and feed efficiency, egg producers prefer pullets of a specific size to enter the egg-laying cycle. Lighting and feeding programs were tested to achieve target Hy-Line Brown pullet BW. Three feeding programs were implemented: ad libitum (ad lib); feeding to achieve breed standard weight for age (BSW); and feeding to achieve 88% BSW (managed). The feeding programs were used with either control lighting (CL: 10 h light/d from 7 weeks of age (WOA)) or reduced lighting (RL: 9 h light/d from 4 WOA). One-hundred and fifty pullets were assigned to each feeding program by lighting treatment during rearing. At 16 WOA, 70 pullets from each treatment during rearing were moved to cages and onto ad libitum feeding under a step-up photoperiod reaching 16 h light/d at 33 WOA. The age and weight of the first egg, hen BW, feed intake (FI), egg production (EP), and EW were measured until 36 WOA. At 16 WOA, pullets reared with ad lib feeding under CL had higher BW and cumulative FI (CFI) compared to ad lib feeding under RL. The latter were the earliest to lay, and the managed pullets under CL were the last to lay. Control lighting and BSW independently generated the heaviest first eggs. At 36 WOA, BW, EW, CFI, and cumulative egg production (CEP) were highest following ad lib feeding during rearing, while rearing under CL generated higher BW and EW but lower CEP than RL. Hence, lighting and feeding programs throughout rearing can regulate pullet growth, FI, and hen performance throughout early lay.
