PRODUCTIVITY AND EGG QUALITY OF TWO HEN GENOTYPES KEPT IN FREE-RANGE SYSTEM

The purpose of this study was to compare the performance and egg quality parameters of two hybrids of laying hens (Lohmann Brown and Atak-S) reared in free-range system. The experiment was carried out with a total of 300 laying hens. From 18 to 50 weeks of age Lohmann Brown (LB) and Atak-S (AS) were housed in two groups of 150 hens in a poultry house with a stocking density of 7 hens/m(2). Feed intake and feed conversion rate during the all laying period were 111.2 g vs 124.3 g, and 2.46 vs 2.58 respectively for LB and AS genotypes (P<0.05). The AS had a significantly higher body weight (2200.5 g and 2022.2 g respectively) than LB hen at week 50 (P<0.05). There was no a significant difference concerning the egg production between two genotypes (P>0.05). However, egg weight was significantly higher in LB genotype than AS genotype (P<0.05). Similarly, no significant difference was found between two genotypes on egg quality characteristics throughout the experiment (P>0.05). In conclusion, our results showed that strain selection is important for productivity of laying hens rearing in free-range system.