Feed form and perch design do not interact to production performance, gastrointestinal tract traits, behaviour and welfare of laying hens reared in enriched cages.

1. It was hypothesised that perch material and design may affect utility and maintenance energy demand in laying hens, affecting their feed form preferences and daily feed consumption. Accordingly, perch design and feed form on hen performance, gastrointestinal tract functions and some behavioural and welfare-related traits were studied in laying hens (ATAK-S) reared in enriched colony cages from 24 to 40 weeks of age.2. The experiment was a 2 × 2 factorial investigating two perch materials and design (circular steel or mushroom-shaped plastic) and feed form (mash or crumble). A total of 396 hens were randomly assigned to one of the four treatment groups with nine replicates each (11 birds per replicate).3. Except for feeding behaviour and prevalence of foot pad dermatitis at 40 weeks of age, the modification of the perch design did not have a significant effect on the traits examined. Mushroom-shaped plastic perches reduced feeding behaviour (p < 0.01) and the incidence of foot pad dermatitis at 40 weeks of age (p < 0.001).4. Performance traits were not affected by feed form. Intake, final body weight and FCR for crumble-fed laying hens were greater than those fed mash (p < 0.01).5. Hens fed mash had higher (p < 0.01) relative gizzard weights along with lower (p < 0.05) pH values, pancreatic chymotrypsin, amylase and lipase activities (p < 0.05), and duodenal absorption surface areas (p < 0.01). Ultimately, this gave higher protein digestibility (p < 0.05) compared to those receiving crumble.6. In conclusion, in enriched cage rearing systems, mashed feed was preferred over crumble to efficiently maintain productive performance. Compared to circular steel, plastic mushroom-shaped perches were associated with better footpad health and welfare.

Effect of mixed feeds containing different levels of olive cake on fattening performance, carcass, meat quality and fatty acids of lambs.

In this study, the effects of diet including different levels of olive cake were investigated on the fattening performance, blood parameters, certain slaughtering traits, and carcass quality of lambs. Thirty-six male lambs were used in the experiment. The lambs were randomly assigned to three groups with 12 lambs each. Groups included control, 12.5 and 25% olive cake (OC). The mixed feeds were offered ad libitum. All lambs were also allowed to consume alfalfa hay (83.8 g DM/animal/day). The experiment lasted for a period of 56 days. The effect of different levels of olive cake was not found different in fattening performance values of lambs in 0-56 days (P > 0.05). Carcass weight, pH, and yield were not different (P > 0.05). While the values of color parameters, cooking loss, tenderness, and ether extract level of longissimus dorsi muscle (MLD) was not found different (P > 0.05), it was determined that the levels of olive cake increased the water-holding capacity of meat (P < 0.05). Furthermore, although the levels of olive cake were shown to decrease total n-3 and total saturated fatty acids (Σ SFA), they also increased total n-6, n-6/n-3 ratio, total monounsaturated fatty acids (Σ MUFA), and total polyunsaturated fatty acids (Σ PUFA) were not different (P > 0.05).