ISSUE FOCUS 52 FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE October 2023 The number of eggs a hen produces over her lifetime is important and as a flock, the timing of peak production, layer lifecycle and percentage should be optimal. However, eggs must be of good quality and produced efficiently. Egg quality deteriorates as hens get older. To make longer laying cycles viable, nutrition must support both eggshell strength and albumen quality. Similarly, after birds reach peak lay, performance will gradually decline. However, the speed and magnitude of this decline can be controlled using both nutritional solutions and management techniques. 1. Lengthening cycles is profitable, but can lead to decreases in quantity and quality of eggs By extending the life of the flock, the production unit’s downtime is reduced. Moreover, financial modelling has shown correlations between persistence in lay and spikes in profitability. As breeding companies target hens that are able to produce 500 eggs per hen, it makes sense to consider longer laying cycles. One challenge is that as birds age, their eggs become bigger. Egg mass naturally increases progressively as hens age and their reproductive system changes. Maximum egg size can be expected when birds are around one year old. Hens can suffer as egg size increases, and larger eggs tend to have thinner shells. There is a limit to the amount of calcium carbonate a hen can access from diet and bones (around 4g), therefore there is a finite quantity of shell that can be produced for each egg. If a larger egg is laid, the shell must stretch more thinly, producing a less robust egg. This will increase the number of second-quality eggs, generating waste and financial loss for the egg producer. Another challenge egg producers face with aging layers is egg quality maintenance. “Oxidative stress increases as animals age, which in turn can decrease laying performance. Aging also leads to variability in shell quality. Therefore, the organs and tissues involved in egg production need nutritional support, in particular protection against oxidative stress. Selenium (Se), defined as the chief executive of the antioxidant system, is involved in several levels of antioxidant defense.” SUSTAINING LAYING PERFORMANCE IN AGED LAYERS Tim Goossens Global Scientific & Technical Manager ‘Health by Nutrition Adisseo Denise Cardoso Global Scientific & Technical Manager Antioxidant Solutions Adisseo
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