TITLE:

Effect of initial chick weight on growth, productive, egg characteristics and feed intake of
commercial layers

INTRODUCTION
Layer farming is worldwide a subsector of integrated poultry industry providing eggs as

food. Conventional egg producing birds have been replaced by high producing commercial layer

strains. Commercial layer farming in Pakistan comprises of 60 million layers producing 18000

million eggs per annum (PPA, 2016). Commercial layers are genetically improved strains

selected for higher egg production (Moreng and Avens 1985). Economic success for a layer

flock is measured by total number of eggs laid (Monira et al. 2003). Most of the commercial

strains can lay 260 eggs and some improved breeds can lay 300 eggs per year (Poultry Hub,

2016) as compared to indigenous Desi chicken which can lay 60 eggs per bird (Farooq et al.

2004). However, commercial layer farming needs strong technical skills and managemental

knowledge for better production and profit. Despite excellent advancement in genetic

improvement and nutrient optimization, commercial layer needs perfection in management

sector especially in early stage to achieve maximum production. Better managemental conditions

can help to optimize the productive performance in egg producing birds. These managemental

conditions may include chick quality, housing conditions, rearing systems and many others; of

these, chick quality gets the prime importance as it is the starting material for poultry business.

Ensuring day old chick quality puts the right path to good health and performance. Day old chick

(DOC) weight is considered an economically important feature (Neto et al. 2013). Although,

adult body weight have been found to affect the egg production in commercial layer chicken but
the relation between DOC weight with subsequent production performance has been unclear and

needs comprehensive experimentation.

Uniformity in the hens with lower BW is more preferable because hens with lower BW

will consume less feed and give more number of eggs which ultimately results into improved

feed conversion ratio (FCR) and production performance than those of medium and heavy BW

(Lacin et al. 2008). It has been suggested that the birds should be reared according to their BW

which help for the easy separation of pullets in order to obtain optimum uniformity in the age of

laying period (Harms et al. 2000). So, both BW and uniformity of the flock is considered to be

important parameters in order to gain better FCR and production performance.

In case of broiler farming, initial chick weight is of considerable importance to farmers as it is

directly correlated with final BW (Mahmood et al. 2007). However, in case of egg laying birds,
no such study is available, hence, the need of the hour, in order to devise proper management
strategies to gain maximum in terms of improved performance and better profit margins.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The proposed study will be conducted at Experimental Layer Unit, Jilin Agricultural

University to investigate the growth, production performance and egg characteristics in LSL

layer from different initial chick weight categories.

Methodology

A total of 160, one week old, commercial chicks (LSL lite) will be equally divided into

four treatment groups, comprising of 4 replicates of 10 birds each according to randomized

complete block design. Experimental treatments will consist of four body weight categories i.e.

Jumbo (>75g), heavy (70-74g), medium (65-69g), low (<60g) at the age of one week.
 Table 1. Experimental Layout

Treatment (Body Weight Categories) Treatment = 4

Jumbo >75 grams Replicates = 4

Heavy 70-74 grams
65-69 grams Birds / replicate = 10
Medium
Total= 4 × 4 × 10 = 160
Low <65 grams

Housing and Management

The birds will be maintained at layer house having dimension of 20 × 25 × 15 ft. The birds will
be placed in the cages having dimension of 2 × 3× 3 ft with manual drinking and feeding system.
The birds will be fed with ration prepared according to LSL lite feeding standards for different
phases (brooding, rearing, pre-laying and laying) for a period of 32 weeks.
Parameter to be studied

Data will be collected regarding growth, productive performance and egg characteristics.

Growth performance

(1) Feed Intake (g)

Feed will be collected on daily basis and for the calculation of daily feed intake the

following formula will be used:

Feed intake (g) = Feed Offered (g) – Feed Refused (g)

(2) Body Weight (g)

 Weekly body weight will be recorded with the help of digital weighing balance capable

of measuring up to 0.5 g.

(3) Body weight gain (g)

Weekly body weight gain will be calculated using following formula:

Body weight gain (g) = Final body weight (g) – Initial body weight (g)

(4) Feed Conversion Ratio

Feed Conversion Ratio during growth will be calculated on weekly basis by using

following formula:

Feed intake( g)
FCR=
Body weight gian( g)

(5) Mortality / Livability %

Mortality will be recorded on daily basis (if any).

Production performance

The following parameters will be studied regarding production performance:

(1) Feed Intake (g)

Feed will be collected on daily basis and for the calculation of daily feed intake the

following formula will used:

Feed intake (g) = Feed Offered (g) – Feed Refused (g)

(2) Egg production (%)

Daily egg production will be recorded from each experimental unit separately and hen

day egg production (%) will be calculated by using the following formula:
 Hen Day Egg Production (%) = Egg Number / Number of Birds × 100

(3) FCR / dozen eggs

Feed / dozen eggs will be calculated by using the following formula:

Feed Consumed (kg)

Feed /dozen eggs= × 12
Number of eggs produced

(4) FCR / kg egg mass

FCR / kg egg mass will be calculated by using the following formula:

Total Feed consumed( kg)

Feed /Kg egg mass=
Total Eggmass (kg)

(5) Mortality / Livability

Egg Characteristics

Egg geometry and quality analysis will be carried out at the end of experiment. For this

purpose 4 eggs will be randomly picked from each experimental unit and subjected to egg

geometry analysis. Following parameters will be calculated in this regard:

Egg Geometry

(1) Egg Shape Index

Width and Length of eggs will be taken with the help of Vernier calipers (least count =

0.1 mm) and egg shape index (ESI) will be determined using the formula adopted by Anderson

et al. (2004).

Shape index = (Breadth/Length) ×100

(2) Egg Surface Area (cm2)

 Egg surface area will be calculated by using following formula:

Egg surface area = k (πLB2/6)0.67

Where, k = constant (4.85); L = egg length; B = egg breadth

(3) Volume (cm3)

Egg volume will be calculated by using length and breadth of egg with the help of

following formula:

V= KπLB2/6

Where, k = constant (0.929); L = egg length; B = egg breadthtality (if any)

will be recorded on daily basis.
Egg quality

(1) Egg weight (g)

Egg weight will be determined with the help of electric weighing balance capable of

measuring up to 0.01 g.

(2) Shell weight (g)

After breaking the egg, shell will be separated and shell membrane will be removed from

the egg and weighed by the help of electric weighing balance capable of measuring up to 0.01g.

(3) Shell thickness (mm)

Shell thickness from three points after removal of shell membrane will be measured using

a micrometer screw gauge.

(4) Haugh Unit Score

 Albumen height will be measured with the help of a spherometer (least count= 0.1 cm)

and its value will be used to determine the Haugh unit. Haugh unit score of individual egg will

be determined using egg weight and albumen height by the formula proposed by Haugh (1937):

Haugh unit =100[@ Log ((H + 7.57) – (1.7) (W0.37))]

Where; H = Observed height of the albumen in mm; W = Weight of egg (g)

(5) Yolk index

Yolk height will be measured with the help of spherometer and its width will be measured using
the digital Vernier caliper and their values will be used to calculate the Yolk index using the
following formula (Doyon et al. 1986):
yolk height
Yolk index=
yolk width

DSM yolk color fan

(6) Yolk color

Yolk color will be measured by DSM yolk color fan.

Statistical Analysis

Data will be analyzed through one-way ANOVA technique (Steel et al. 1997) using

PROC GLM in SAS software. Comparison of means will be worked out through Duncan’s

Multiple Range test (Duncan, 1955) assuming following mathematical model:

Yij = µ + Ʈi + Ԑij

Whereas,

Yij = Dependent variable

µ = Population mean

Ʈi = Effect of ith initial chick weight (i = 1, 2, 3, 4; jumbo, heavy, medium, low)

Ԑij = Residual effect of ith observation on jth treatment NID ~ 0, σ2

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