Introduction. William A. Hannah, Dept. Plant and Animal Sciences,. Dalhousie Agriculture Campus, PO Box 550, Truro, NS. Methods. Predictions. Conclusion.
The Effect of Lighting During Incubation on the Laying Hen Immune System William A. Hannah, Dept. Plant and Animal Sciences, Dalhousie Agriculture Campus, PO Box 550, Truro, NS
Introduction ²
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Methods
The consumption of poultry and poultry 1 products around the world is increasing ; along with the concern for disease outbreak2 As a result research on avian immunology has become increasingly important The Atlantic Canadian egg industry is concerned about the response of the immune system in laying hens to currently administered vaccines and identified it as a priority Titre levels as a measure of immune response in blood were found to be consistently lower against specific 3 diseases 4 Previous research demonstrated that stress was lower in chickens incubated with light by measuring asymmetry. It was 4 also demonstrated that titre levels were higher as a response to light
Objectives
² Three strain of layers will be used with three treatments ² Strains include Lohmann Lite, Brown & Barred Rock ² Complete randomized block design will be followed ² The three treatments will be no light, 12L:12D per day and light for the last three days of incubation ² Hatching parameters such as hatch success and window will be taken ² Blood samples will be taken at week 25 and sheep erythrocytes will be injected for titre response shortly after ² Results will be analyzed with S.A.S. using Tukey’s test with an alpha P = 0.05.
Predictions
² The project aims to establish a circadian rhythm earlier in production resulting in a beneficial influence on layer immune system
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Courtesy of Ming Gong
Treatments with the 12L:12D lighting regime will have the most significant e ff e c t o n t h e l a y e r s v a c c i n e 4 response
Conclusion ² The experiment will be used to determine the direction of further studies examining the immune system of layers with lights during incubation Courtesy Xujie Li Bardos,1998
Acknowledgements Dr. Bruce Rathgeber, Dr. Chibuike Udenigwe, Dr. Jim Duston & APRC Staff/Students 1. Scanes, C. G. (2007). The Global Importance of Poultry. Poultry Science, 86(6), 1057–1058. doi:10.1093/ps/86.6.1057 2. Olsen, B. (2013). Global Patterns of Influenza A Virus in Wild Birds, 384, 1–6. doi:10.1126/science.1122438 3. McKillop, N., MacLsaac, J., & Rathgeber, B., (2006). Feeding White Leghorn hens yeast beta-glucans to influence egg quality. Poultry Sci. 85 (Suppl.) 4. Archer, G. S., & Mench, J. A. (2013). The effects of light stimulation during incubation on indicators of stress susceptibility in broilers. Poultry Science, 92, 3103–8. doi:10.3382/ps.2013-03434
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