Keel bone fractures are more prevalent in White Leghorn hens than in Red Jungle fowl hens—A pilot study
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Keel bone fractures are more prevalent in White Leghorn hens than in Red Jungle fowl hens—A pilot study. / Kittelsen, Käthe Elise; Gretarsson, Pall; Jensen, Per; Christensen, Jens Peter; Toftaker, Ingrid; Moe, Randi Oppermann; Vasdal, Guro.
I: PLoS ONE, Bind 16, Nr. 7, e0255234, 2021.Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskrift › Tidsskriftartikel › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Keel bone fractures are more prevalent in White Leghorn hens than in Red Jungle fowl hens—A pilot study
AU - Kittelsen, Käthe Elise
AU - Gretarsson, Pall
AU - Jensen, Per
AU - Christensen, Jens Peter
AU - Toftaker, Ingrid
AU - Moe, Randi Oppermann
AU - Vasdal, Guro
N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Kittelsen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Fractures and deviations to the keel bone are common in commercial laying hens, with reported variations in occurrence across strains and breeds. The aetiology is not fully understood, however, modern genetics and selection for efficient egg production has been claimed to be important factors for the keel bone fractures. To explore this further, we investigated keel bones from two different breeds, representing different degrees of selection for egg production: Red jungle fowl (n = 82), and White Leghorn (n = 32), where the latter is a selected laying breed which is the origin for many modern laying hen hybrids. Keel bones from a total of 116 birds, 53 hens and 63 roosters, were examined by necropsy at 80 weeks of age. All birds were raised in modified aviaries in the same holding facility. Overall, 24.5% of the hens had one or more fractures to the keel, with a difference in the prevalence between hens from the two breeds (p<0.01): 10% (95% CI: 3.7–24%) in the Red Jungle fowl hens and 69% (95% CI: 37–90%) in the White Leghorn hens. No roosters, regardless of breed, had keel bone fractures. Mild to moderate keel bone deviations were present in 54% (95% CI: 25–80%) of the hens and 4.7% (95% CI: 0.5–30%) of the roosters, all White Leghorns.
AB - Fractures and deviations to the keel bone are common in commercial laying hens, with reported variations in occurrence across strains and breeds. The aetiology is not fully understood, however, modern genetics and selection for efficient egg production has been claimed to be important factors for the keel bone fractures. To explore this further, we investigated keel bones from two different breeds, representing different degrees of selection for egg production: Red jungle fowl (n = 82), and White Leghorn (n = 32), where the latter is a selected laying breed which is the origin for many modern laying hen hybrids. Keel bones from a total of 116 birds, 53 hens and 63 roosters, were examined by necropsy at 80 weeks of age. All birds were raised in modified aviaries in the same holding facility. Overall, 24.5% of the hens had one or more fractures to the keel, with a difference in the prevalence between hens from the two breeds (p<0.01): 10% (95% CI: 3.7–24%) in the Red Jungle fowl hens and 69% (95% CI: 37–90%) in the White Leghorn hens. No roosters, regardless of breed, had keel bone fractures. Mild to moderate keel bone deviations were present in 54% (95% CI: 25–80%) of the hens and 4.7% (95% CI: 0.5–30%) of the roosters, all White Leghorns.
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0255234
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0255234
M3 - Journal article
C2 - 34314465
AN - SCOPUS:85111966873
VL - 16
JO - PLoS ONE
JF - PLoS ONE
SN - 1932-6203
IS - 7
M1 - e0255234
ER -
ID: 280551583