Document Type

Report

Report Number

Poultry 85-6

Publication Date

1985

Summary

The environmental temperatures in the layer houses in the Midwest may range from 60 F to 90 F because of extreme cold weather in the winter and hot weather in the summer. Research suggests that cold temperatures increase the maintenance energy requirement of layers to increase body temperatures and hot environmental temperatures lower the maintenance energy requirement to enhance the elimination of body heat. Since feed consumption of layers is primarily controlled by their energy requirements the change in temperature drastically effects daily feed consumption. Alterations in feed intake of layers caused by changing temperatures create many problems for layer nutritionists because feed consumption information is important to provide optimum daily intakes of essential nutrients. The objectives of the research discussed in this paper were to determine the effect of environmental temperatures upon layer performance and also to develop information to assist in predicting feed intake of layers at different temperatures. The first experiment is for layers from 20 to 36 weeks of age and the second experiment is for layers from 36 to 65 weeks of age.

Number of Pages

7

Type

text

Format

application/pdf

Language

en

Publisher

Department of Animal Science, Agricultural Experiment Station, South Dakota State University

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