Effects of feeding graded levels of XXXX on egg shell pimpling in aged hens.

@entity3875 @entity4336 @entity1372 @entity460 @entity972
Pimpled egg shells are one of the various types of egg shell problems in the industry today. In this study, graded levels of @entity3875 (D3) (0, 138, 275, 550, 2200, 22,000, 44,000, and 88,000 ICU of D3/kg of feed) were fed in a @entity4336 -soy ration to Single Comb White Leghorn hens (78 weeks of age), randomly assigned to one of the eight treatments. Feed consumption, egg production, egg weight, egg specific gravity, and pimple score were determined at weekly or biweekly intervals for a 10-week period. At termination of the experiment, @entity460 , @entity1372 , @entity972 , and ash content of the uterus and serum @entity460 levels were assayed. Results showed that a significant (P less than .05) linear increase in pimple score, uterine ash, and serum @entity460 occurred as dietary levels of D3 increased. Egg production and egg specific gravity were correlated to D3 level in a quadratic fashion. Uterine @entity1372 levels declined with increased D3 in the diet, while @entity972 values showed no differences. @entity460 levels of uterine tissue tended to increase with increased D3. The lowest (0 ICU/kg) and highest level of D3 (88,000 ICU/kg) significantly decreased feed consumption. It was concluded that egg shell pimpling is directly related to level of @entity3875 (D3) in the diet.
