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RESEARCH ARTICLE

Egg quality and production performance of laying hens injected with growth hormone and testosterone in the late phase of production

H. Mohammadi A G , Z. Ansari-Pirsaraei B , S. N. Mousavi C , M. Bouyeh D , A. Gholibeikifard E , P. Nouri F , A. Hatefi F and M. Rahmani A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Department of Agriculture, Payame Noor University, PO Box 19395–3697, Tehran, Iran.

B Department of Animal Science, Sari Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources University, Sari, Iran.

C Department of Animal Science, Varamin-Pishva Branch, Islamic Azad University, Varamin, Iran.

D Department of Animal Science, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran.

E Department of Animal Science, Technical and Vocational University, Tehran, Iran.

F MSc graduated in Animal Science.

G Corresponding author. Email: mohammadyhm@yahoo.com

Animal Production Science 56(1) 147-152 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN14111
Submitted: 24 November 2013  Accepted: 19 September 2014   Published: 20 January 2015

Abstract

In this study, 160 73-week-old laying hens (HyLine W-36) were used to investigate the changes in production performance and egg quality parameters of aged laying hens after injection of different doses of growth hormone (GH) and a fixed dose of testosterone (Ts). The hens were weighed individually, placed in laying cages and then randomly assigned to four treatments with four replicates of 10 birds each, in a completely randomised design. The experiment was started at the 75th week and lasted until the 82nd week of age. The treatments were: 1: injection of 100 µL distilled water (control group), 2: injection of 500 µg Ts/kg liveweight + 50 µg GH/kg liveweight, 3: injection of 500 µg Ts/kg liveweight + 100 µg GH/kg liveweight and 4: injection of 500 µg Ts/kg liveweight + 150 µg GH/kg liveweight. In this study, ovulation rate (egg production percent), egg mass and feed intake were significantly higher in Treatment 3 than the control group (P < 0.05), and in Treatment 4, feed conversion ratio was significantly higher than for the other experimental groups (P < 0.05). In addition, the birds in Treatment 3 showed greater egg weight, albumen height, eggshell weight, eggshell density and eggshell weight per surface area than the control group (P < 0.05). In Treatment 3, egg length significantly increased compared with Treatments 1 and 4 (P < 0.05), and in Treatments 2 and 4, shell breaking strength was significantly lower than for the control group (P < 0.05). In conclusion, our results showed positive effects of GH and Ts administration on egg quality parameters and production performance in aged laying hens. Taken together, in the present study Treatment 3 was found more effective in improving egg quality and production performance of the old laying hens.

Additional keywords: egg quality, growth hormone, old laying hens, production performance, testosterone.


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