Effects on plumage condition, health and mortality of dietary oats/wheat ratios to three hybrids of laying hens in different housing systems

The effects on plumage condition and health when feeding diets with varying oats/wheat ratios to different non-beak-trimmed hybrids housed in various systems were studied in two experiments. In experiment I (Expt. 1) 1146 Loh mann Selected Leghorn (LSL) and 1006 Lohmann Brown (LB) birds were housed i n eight aviary pens; four in each of the systems Lovsta (L) and Marielund ( M), or in six groups of 24 conventional cages each (C). Two diets with a hi gh proportion of either oats or wheat were used. Experiment 2 (Expt. 2) inc luded 1740 LSL and 1632 SLU-1329 birds housed in 6 pens each of system M. D iets with varying proportions of oats and wheat were given. In Expt. I, LB hens housed in C showed better plumage condition compared with those housed in the aviaries, whereas LSL birds showed the opposite trend. Housing syst em affected most health traits, showing superior results for system C regar ding, for example, bumble foot, cleanliness of feet and keel bone lesions. In Expt. 2, feather cover deteriorated in LSL birds when the oats/wheat rat io was decreased but no such effect was found in the SLU-1329 birds.