Growth And Egg Laying Performance Of Different Shell Layers

The feeding experiment was carried out using different breeds of shell layers including Hy-Line ash,Romain powder,Beijing powder,Nongda III,Dawu-jinfeng,Beijing white 939,and Dawu-fen 1stunder same management in order to select appropriate shell laying breeds for feeding.Test results were as follows:Part I: The average egg weight in hatching stage was from 54.73 to 62.36 g,and the order of breeds from large to small was Roman powder,Beijing white 939,Hy-Line ash,Dawu-fen1 st,Beijing powder,Dawu-Jinfeng,and Nongda III.The egg fertilization rate was from 90 to 98.6%,showing large to small order of Beijing white939,Nongda III,Dawu-Jinfeng,Hy-Line ash,Roman powder,Dawu-fen1 st,Beijing powder.Part II: The body weight and feed consumption in brood stage increased with the growth of age.The breeds that adapt to the local environment had higher growth rate,survival rate,birth weight and early growth rate.The average growth rate for breeds from large to small was Hy-Line ash,Beijing white 939,Roman powder,Beijing powder,Dawu-fen 1st,Dawu-jinfeng,and Nongda III.The breed of Nongda III had relatively low ratio of feed to weight.Part III: The Gompertz model was the best model for fitting the growth of 7breeds,especially for breeds of Hy gray,Roman powder,Nongda III,Dawu-jinfeng,Beijing white 939,and Dawu-fen 1st.Part IV: The laying curve showed that the Hy-Line ash reached peak production values at 36 weeks,and its laying rate increased 8.04,4.85,3.72,3.26,2.99,and 2.7percent compared to Beijing white 939,Romain powder,Dawu-fen 1st,Dawu-jinfeng,Nongda III,Beijing powder and Beijing powder.The Hy ash,Roman powder,Dawu-fen 1sthad the higher egg weight,there was no significant difference among them,but significant with other breeds(p<0.05).The Nongda III had the lightest egg weight.The egg shape index of Dawu-fen 1st and Roman powder was in standard range,but relatively lower for other breeds.TheNongda III had the lowest egg shape index.The results showed that the Hy gray hens was ideal laying breed,followed by Beijing powder,Nongda III,Dawu-jinfeng,Dawu-fen 1st,Roman powder,and Beijing white 939.