INFLUENCE OF DIFFERENT HOUSING SYSTEMS ON THE PERFORMANCE OF HENS OF 4 LAYING STRAINS

Four laying strains were evaluated with regard to henday egg productio n, egg mass, feed conversion, mortality, Haugh units, shell thickness and percentage soiled, cracked and broken eggs produced under a batter y, floor house and free-range system. This was done to determine wheth er significant differences do exist in performance between the differe nt housing systems and to identify any stain x housing system interact ions that may be present. Strain accounted for most variation in all t he tested traits. Overall the battery system seems to be more advantag eous than the other systems, yielding a significantly higher henday eg g production than the free-range system, a significantly higher egg ma ss than in the floor house system, a significantly better feed convers ion than both the floor house and free-range systems, significantly le ss mortalities and less soiled, cracked and broken eggs than both the other systems. Strain x housing system interactions were observed with regard to feed conversion and mortality.