1Departments of Agricultural Buildings and Irrigation, Atatürk University Erzurum, Turkey.
2Department of Animal Sciences, Agricultural Faculty, Atatürk University Erzurum, Turkey.
*Corresponding author: Tel +90-442-2312573; E-mail: mmacit@atauni.edu.tr or mmacit@hotmail.com
This experiment was carried out to assess the effect of cage density levels of 4, 5 and 6 birds per cage, at 540 (low-density=L), 432 (normal-density=N) and 360 (high-density=H) cm2/hen densities, on performance and egg quality traits in Lohmann layers. Hens placed in H-density and N-density cages had lower feed consumption and feed conversion ratio (FCR), but similar egg production. However, averages of live weight gain were adversely affected at the highest density level. There were no differences among groups in terms of egg quality parameters. A cage density of 360 cm2/hen may be recommended for laying hens weighing 1.5 to 1.7 kg.
Laying hens, cage density, laying performance, egg quality
