Minimal effects of ultraviolet light supplementation on egg production, egg and bone quality, and health during early lay of laying hens.

ABSTRACT: Chicken vision is sensitive to ultraviolet (UV) light containing the UVA spectrum, while UVB plays a key role in the endogenous production of vitamin D₃. However, commercially available light sources are typically deficient in the UV spectrum and thus may not adequately fulfill the lighting requirements of indoor-housed laying hens. We hypothesized that supplementary UVB light may improve egg production and egg quality, and bone health during early lay relative to UVA supplementation or standard control lighting. To investigate the effects of UV light supplementation, an experiment was conducted on 252 ISA Brown hens during 16 to 27 weeks of age. Birds were housed in eighteen pens (14 hens/pen) under three different light treatment groups each with six replications: (i) UVO: sta

SUBMITTER: Rana MS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10024484 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature