The effect of Ascaridia galli on the performance and egg quality of free-range laying hens - Nisha Sharma

Tuesday 7th November 2016.

Free- range egg production is getting popular in Australia as people are getting more concerned about awareness of hen welfare. This pressure encouraged Australian egg producers to house more free-range laying hens.

In free-range egg productions, hens are allowed to roam within a shed, and access a range. Subsequently, hens have the ability to express their natural behaviour. However, there are several challenges to be faced when housing free-range layers. For example, one of the most prevalent gastrointestinal parasite is Ascaridia galli. This parasite has been reported to decrease hen production and suspected to reduce egg quality. There is a lack of research on the impact of infection intensity on egg quality and a critical threshold that can be accepted. We investigated the impact of different infection levels with A.galli on hen performance (feed intake, body weight, egg weight, egg production) and egg quality parameters in free-range laying hens.