Egg production in warm environmental temperatures

Abstract

Synopsis The performance of light hybrid layers has been compared in four climatic environments and with three nutrient densities. It has been shown that egg production can be maintained at the same rate as that achieved by normally housed control birds (87 per cent) when the air temperature was kept at 300 C constantly, or cycled from 30° C to 180 C or from 350 G to 130 C (10 hours at the higher temperature in each case). Egg production was not affected by nutrient density except in the constant warm climate in which food intake did not increase to compensate for a low dietary energy level.