Laying hens under smallholder conditions: laying performance, growth and bone quality of tibia and femur including essential elements

The study aimed to assess laying performance, growth rate, and bone quality properties of tibia and femur bones of various genotypes of laying hens, including determining essential element composition at the end of the laying cycle in smallholder conditions. The study included three genotypes of laying hens; Czech golden spotted (CGS), White Leghorn (LE) and Dominant Partridge D300 (D300) hens. In total, 180 hens (60/genotype) were used in 3 replications (20 hens/replication). The eggs were collected to determine egg lay and hen-day egg production. Additionally, feed consumption was recorded to determine feed consumption per day or egg, resp. The mortality rate was recorded. Hens were individually weighed every 10 wk to analyze the growth performance and body weight changes during the laying cycle. The differences in performance characteristics were observed as significant in all studied parameters. The bone quality analysis consisted of the determination of bone weight, length, width, and fracture toughness. Furthermore, dry matter, ash, and selected elements, which included boron (B), calcium (Ca), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), magnesium (Mg), manganese (Mn), sodium (Na), phosphorus (P), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn) were assessed. Regarding the results of tibia and femur bones, the effect of genotype was determined as significant in all evaluated properties. In terms of element composition, all evaluated elements significantly differed among the genotypes in the tibia (with one exception of Cu) and in the femur (with one exception of Cd). In conclusion, our results showed that hens’ performance, production quality, mortality and bone properties significantly differed among genotypes under smallholder conditions. Thus, every genotype needs to be carefully considered, when the rearing conditions are set.