Laura Star

1. Introduction Ancestors of modern poultry lived in social groups of 20 to 30 chickens. In current non-cage systems, the flock sizes are much larger. Laying hens are not able to remember or recognize all flock mates in such systems and there is complete absence of social hierarchy [1]. This results in feather pecking, which is one of the greatest challenges in commercial laying hen husbandry [2]. ...

IntroductionPhosphorus is an important nutrient for laying hens, e.g. for bone development and egg formation, but also plays an important role in environmental contamination. However, research on the phosphorus requirement of laying hens is dated (Van der Klis and Blok, 1997). The modern laying hen with a high egg number and laying persistency probably has a different phosphorus requirement than b ...