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Productivity, reproduction and welfare status of White Leghorn hens under cage and floor housing systems

At 18th week, a total of 450 WLH layer birds from a single hatch were randomly assigned into three treatment groups viz. individual cage, colony cage and floor housing. The performance of hens with regards to sexual maturity, hen-day egg production, egg qualities and welfare parameters in three different housing conditions up to 36 wk of age were assessed. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in the welfare status regarding feather conditions, claw length, gait scores and tonic immobility of the birds between the managemental conditions. While significantly higher (p<0.05) fearful response and time for first peck (response to novel object test) was observed in individual cage layers than the floor and colony birds. The ASM was lower in individual cages (126.76±3.64d) than floor (131.11±13.40d). The hen day egg production till 20th week was higher in colony ages than the floor. During 28–32 weeks individually caged layers had significantly higher hen day egg production (P<0.05) than the colony or floor reared layers. However, during 32–36 weeks (peak summer) the colony reared layer had more egg production (P<0.01) than the colony or floor reared layers. There were significantly difference (P<0.01) in the yolk weight, yolk index, albumin index and Haugh unit between the housing system. The yolk colour was also significantly (p<0.05) darker in individual and colony cages compared to floor reared birds. The present indicates that the WLH layers showed better welfare status when reared on floor but production performance and egg quality was superior in cage type housing system.