Performance of Leghorn type hens fed two levels of energy and a synthetic estrogen during the growing period.

Feeding of an estrogen, dienestrol diacetate, at 352 mg/kg of diet to December-hatched White Leghorn type pullets, from 16 to 20 wk of age, caused onset of production to be delayed approximately 3 wk. The dietary dienestrol diacetate also resulted in increased body weights at 30 and 46 wk in one experiment. Hens receiving the estrogen laid significantly (P less than .05) heavier but fewer eggs during most of the production year than did those fed diets without the estrogenic compound. The addition of 2.2% fat to diets of pullets from 0 to 20 wk of age failed to influence their performance in the layer house.