An overview of the housing systems as well as hen management, well-being, and production
Published: July 3, 2015
By: Darrin Karcher 1 and Deana Jones 2 (1Michigan State University, Department of Animal Science, East Lansing, Michigan, USA and 2USDA Agricultural Research Service, Egg Safety and Quality Research Unit, Athens, Georgia, USA)
A comparison of commercial conventional cage (CC), enriched colony cage (EC), and cage-free aviary (AV) was conducted at the same production site. The Lohmann LSL Classic White laying hen was used in the three production environments. The CC is the traditional housing system used in the United States while the EC and AV are beginning to become a more prominent housing system for laying hens. The EC and AV provide resources that are not present within the CC including perch space, nest area, scratch pad (EC), and litter access (AV). Additionally, the space allocation per bird was 516 cm2 (CC), 929 cm2 (AV), and 748 cm2 (EC). Differences were observed in the hen management over the two different flocks as the commercial company learned how to manage the different types of housing systems.
Production performance is both an indicator of overall flock health and a major component of economic and environmental sustainability. Daily feed usage, water consumption, hen-day egg production, and mortality data were collected during each 28-day period of each flock cycle. The hen-day percentage was above the calculated 86 percent management guide average from 19 to 78 weeks for hens in all three housing systems across both flocks. Hen-day production at 78 weeks of age was higher than the Lohmann LSL White management guide (2013) target of 77% for both flocks. Flock 2 performance was better than Flock 1, showing an increase in eggs per hen housed, average hen-day production, and better feed conversion. The Lohmann LSL management guide (2013) reports that cumulative mortality should be around six percent for the flock; mortality in both the CC and EC was slightly lower than this in both flocks, but mortality in the AV was double that figure. Mortality in both the AV and CC were about the same in Flock 2 as they were in Flock 1. In the EC, however, mortality decreased from Flock 1 to Flock 2, resulting in EC mortality being similar to that of CC.
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