Roland Sn, 1997 – Performanace and Profits of Commercial Leghorns as Influenced by Cage Row Position

Producers commonly feed commercial leghorns based on flock average feed intake to control egg size and nutrient intake. However, results of these experiments indicate that this proceedure may not yield maximum profits. Results indicate that hens housed in the bottom row of cages have significantly greater egg size and feed consumption than those on the top row. Most of the differences associated with cage row level cannot be explained by variation in temperature. Our results suggest that most commercial leghorns are either overfed or underfed depending on cage row position and that profits could be increased by feeding hens based on feed intake as determined by cage row position rather than by average flock intake.