Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T06:55:23.047Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Activity and energy expenditure in laying hens

1. The energy cost of nesting activity and oviposition

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

M. Van Kampen
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Veterinary Physiology, Alex. Numankade 93, Utrecht, The Netherlands

Summary

The energy cost of nesting activity and oviposition of hens in different environments has been determined.

The oxygen consumption of hens on a wire floor reached a peak during the last 15 min before oviposition. However, the oxygen uptake of hens accustomed to a litter floor had fallen to a minimum at this time.

The energy cost of expelling the egg is minimal. There is a good correlation between the locomotor activity and the heat production.

The variations in heat production and body temperature on different types of floors are explicable by the differences in nesting activity.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1976

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bessei, H. & Bessei, W. (1974). Eine Messanlage zum Überwachen der lokomotorischen Aktivität von Hühnern in Bodenhaltung. Archiv für Geflügelkunde 38, 94–9.Google Scholar
Cain, J. R. & Wilson, W. O. (1971). Multichannel telemetry system for measuring body temperature: circadian rhythms of body temperature, locomotor activity and oviposition in chickens. Poultry Science 50, 1437–43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Van Klampen, M. (1973). Energy metabolism and heat regulation in the White Leghorn hen. Thesis. Utrecht.Google Scholar
Van Kampen, M. (1974). Physical factors affecting energy expenditure. In Energy Requirements of Poultry (ed. Morris, T. R. and Freeman, B. M.), pp. 4759. Edinburgh: British Poultry Science Ltd.Google Scholar
Winget, C. M., Averkin, E. G. & Fryer, T. B. (1965). Quantitative measurement by telemetry of ovulation and oviposition in the fowl. American Journal of Physiology 209, 853–8.Google Scholar