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seminolewind

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Californian egg welfare ruling comes into effect

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As of January 1st 2015, egg producers in the US state of California need to comply with the requirements of California’s Proposition 2 , which voters passed in 2008. The initiative, backed by animal rights activists, was designed to move farmers away from traditional battery cages for laying hens.
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The measure, which voters passed by more than 63%, requires egg-laying chickens to have enough room to lie down, stand up, sit down, turn around and fully extend their wings by Jan. 1, 2015.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture, which generally inspects egg facilities, has stated that it will not be in charge of enforcing Prop 2 but rather local law enforcement will oversee this as the measure makes it a misdemeanor to place hens into small cages.
To become compliant with the ruling many US egg suppliers including NestFresh, have updated their brand packaging with the hope of communicating the movement for increased humane practices of hens across the country.
Previous NestFresh packaging showed the iconic mountains home to Colorado, the company's birthplace. Several of the new labels showcase photos taken at NestFresh farms across the country, incorporating cage free barns and the natural living conditions the hens enjoy every day. Further, organic labels show the free range hens in the beautiful outdoor area provided on the farm. "With increased product awareness about humane animal treatment and Proposition 2, we're hoping to communicate our leadership in this movement, and showcase the hens and their environment as the center of our industry," the company said in a statement.
As a part of the Hidden Villa Ranch brand family, NestFresh eggs are certified cage-free and include products that are Non-GMO Project Verified as well as pasture raised.
by World Poultry Jan 5, 2015
 
Finding the balance in layer feed composition

1 340 Layers
A test on the effects of physical feed form and feed particle size on the performance and egg quality of laying hens, was conducted at the Islamic Azad University in Iran.
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A total of 480 Hy-line (W-36) hens at 27 weeks of age were assigned to 6 treatments in 8 replicates per treatment and 10 birds per replicate.
The factors examined were on physical feed form: mash and pellet, as well as on corn particle size: fine, medium and coarse with 3, 6 and 9 mm screen size.
Hens fed fine mash diets appeared to show 1.3-3.7 lower egg production compared to other treatments. Feed intake and egg weight were superior in hens fed pelleted diets, compared with those on mash diets. Feed intake was lower for hens fed fine-ground corn (3-mm screen) than for hens fed medium and coarse ground corn in mash diets, but not in pellet diets. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was higher for hens fed pellets than for hens fed mash. The FCR was improved in hens fed coarse mash compared to hens fed pellet with fine corn particles.
There was a decreasing trend in FCR with increasing corn particle size. Hens fed the pellet diets showed increased bodyweight gain. Egg shell percentage was significantly reduced when screen size was increased from 6 to 9 mm. Pellet feed decreased albumen and increased yolk percentage and Haugh unit compared to mash feed. Increasing screen size from 3 to 9 mm enhanced Haugh unit.
Results of this experiment showed that, although egg weight and feed intake were increased, FCR was worse for pellet diets. Increasing corn particle size tended to improve performance parameters. Feed form and particle size had significant effects on egg quality.
Source: S.N. Mousavi, Department of Animal Science, Islamic Azad University, Varamin, Iran
Proceedings of the XIVth European Poultry Conference, June 2014, Stavanger
 
Yea, I'm getting real tired of my crumbles distinigrating (sp) to dust that sits in the bottom of the bowl. I am putting a bowl of each outside and hopefully they'll be eating the pellets first.
 
Last time i got a bag they were out of the pellets,so i got the crumbles.They did have some fines.I sifted them through a sieve ,and use the fines to add to a mixture of hand ground grains that i also use.Mixed just enough water to get everything to stick together.Worked out ok.Just my experience !
 

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