NUTRITIONAL STRATEGIES FOR

FORCED MOLTING IN LAYING HENS

Dr.Rishabh Chugh (M.V.Sc Scholar)

Dr.Bharti Sharma(Ph.D. Scholar)
Department of Animal Nutrition
ICAR-NDRI, Karnal, Haryana
 OVERVIEW
Introduction
Molting
Purpose of forced molting
Methods of forced molting
 Conventional feed withdrawal method
 Feed restriction method
 Non feed removal methods
Conclusions
 Poultry sector is valued at about 80,000 crores in India
BROILER
LAYER
CONTRIBUTION TO EGG PRODUCTION
DUCK
BACKYARD POULTRY
OTHERS 1.43%

29.8% 38.7% 21 BACKYARD POULTRY

0.68%
COMMERCIAL
LAYER 79
FARMS
29.4%

0 50 100
DISTRIBUTION OF POULTRY POPULATION
(DAHDF, 2017)
Egg production: 88 billions in 2016-17 with an annual growth
rate of about 6% whereas present availability is only
69 eggs/person/annum (DAHDF, 2017)

As per nutritional requirement, half an egg a day is optimal for

an average healthy person =180 eggs/person/annum
(NATIONAL INST. OF NUTRITION, 2011)
 Baseline data
Parameter Required by 2022
(2015-16)

Egg production (billions) 83 136

550 million
Commercial Layers 375 million
(additional 175 million)
220 250
Yield- eggs/ annum

Total Feed Required 11 MMT 15 MMT

Feed Ingredient- Maize @35%
4 MMT 5.25 MMT

Feed Ingredient- Soya @ 15% 1.7 MMT 2.25 MMT

Vaccine dosages required 3000 million 4400 million

(8 /bird) dosages dosages

Skilled persons required 1.85 lakhs 5.5 lakhs

(DAHDF, 2017)
 High mortality
ForcedNon-availability
molting can be used as an effective management tool for
of replacement
extending flock performance Higher
and in feed
avoiding annual cost of replacing
of commercial pullets during
pullets, vaccines, costs
chicksmedicine and feed the rearing
period
Poor plumage condition and the consequent reduced insulation leads
to increase in heat loss and the energy resulting in decreased laying
efficiency
(Leeson and Morrison, 1978)

Molting in avian species is characterized by the replacement of

feathers in an orderly manner and is accompanied by the regression of
reproductive organs and the cessation of egg laying
(Johnson, 1986)

It is a normal physiological process in both sexes of feathered birds

and is controlled by the gonads and thyroid gland in association with
a drop in estrogen level
(North O. Mack , Commercial Chicken Production Manual 3rd ed.)
 …continued

Domestic chickens bred for high egg production do not go through a

complete molt until the end of the long and intensive laying period.
Thus, to speed up the process a program of forced molting can be
used

Entire artificial program: 6-8 weeks.

(North O. Mack , Commercial Chicken Production Manual 3rd ed.)
 MECHANISM OF MOLTING

Release of
Hypothalamic corticotropic and
Nutritional stress
hyperactivity thyrotropic
hormones

Further release of
Gonadotropic
Adrenal & thyroid ACTH & TSH
hormone
hyperfunction from Anterior
imbalance
pituitary

(Girardon, 2011)
Purpose of molting is to cease egg production in order for the hens
to enter a non-reproductive state, which increases post molt egg
production and egg quality
(Webster, 2003)

In commercial layer flocks, aged and unprofitable hens are molted

to obtain heavier, high-quality and marketable eggs
(Bell, 2003)

Molting of laying hens improves the livability of the flock (by as

much as 9% ) and reproductive efficiency
(Anderson, 2002)

With one forced molting, it is possible to prolong the production

cycle to 90 weeks (52 + 40 weeks), while with two molting to 120
wks (45 + 40 + 35 weeks)
(Leesons and Summers ,Commercial poultry nutrition 3rd ed.)
….continued

To minimize the cost to bring the flock into

production

To increase the length of egg production

When the current egg prices are low with

anticipation of higher egg prices post-molt

Lack of available cash to maintain the

flock
 All molting programs necessitate body weight loss and cessation
of egg production (Yousaf and Chaudhry, 2008)

Acceptable and persistent

second cycle performance
Complete cessation
of lay
20−25%
body weight loss

Goals of a Successful Molt

(Scheideler & Beck, 2002)
 Molting

Feed
removal or Non feed Others
restriction removal

GnRH
MGA
Low Feed Thyroxine
nutrient additives
rations
High High
dietary aluminum
zinc salts

Whole Soyabean
grain Wheat Guar
Alfalfa middlings
Barley hulls Meal
Most popular method due to ease of application, low cost, and
agreeable post molt performance
(Bell, 2003)

A typical feed withdrawal program last either for 4 days or 10

days
(Christmas et. al., 1985)

For an effective forced molting program, body weight loss

should be limited to 30% of the starting weight and feed should
be returned if mortality reaches more than 1.2% of the starting
count
(UEP, 2002)
 ON again-OFF again method

Days Feed Water Light

1 None None 8 Hours
2 None None do
3 45g/ hen adlib do
4 None None do
5 45g/ hen adlib do
6 None None do
7 45g/ hen adlib do
8 None None do
9 45g/ hen adlib do
10-60 Restricted feeding-about 75% of adlib do
full feed intake
61onwards Full-feed layer ration adlib 14 – 16
Hours
(North, Commercial Chicken Production Manual 3rd ed.)
 CRITICISM OF CONVENTIONAL FEED WITHDRAWAL
METHOD

Animal welfare concerns regarding the use of feed deprivation

(Park et al., 2004)

Hens undergoing fasting are more susceptible to Salmonella enterica

serovar Enteritidis (S. Enteritidis) colonization of the gastrointestinal
tract and infections which raises a public health concern
(Holt, 2003)

Detrimental to the skeletal integrity of hens

(Mazzuco & Hester, 2005)

Feed withdrawal is banned in India, Israel, Europe and rarely practised

in the USA
(Hester, 2005)
 Effect of feed restriction method on post molt egg
production
Breed : Hy-Line n=225 Duration : 147 d
Age : 88 weeks Place : UDESC, Brazil
85

80

75

70 Quant100
Egg Production %
Quant75
94-100wks 65 Quant50
60 Qual75
Qual50
55

50
1 2 3 4 5
Post Molting period (wks)
( Cerbaro et. al., 2013)
 Breed: White leghorn Julia strain Duration: 147 d
Age: 60-74 weeks Photoperiod: 12L:12D n = 100

Ingredient Corn DORB Wheat Corn CaCO3 DCP Choline Vit-Min

Bran Gluten chloride Premix
Inclusion % 34.5 10 30 20 4.7 0.660 0.040 0.100

ME CP % Ca % Available Na %
kcal/kg P%
2270 13.7 2.11 0.40 0.04

Composition and Nutrients of Molt diet used in the program

(Soe et. al., 2008)

 Effect of ME level on egg production
Periods Week Control M100 M85 M70 P
--------------------------%-------------------------------------
Pre-molt 0 89.9±2.7 91.4±3.3 90.9±1.4 91.4±2.6 NS
1 83.3±5.8 64.9±6.2 57.1±6.4 50.6±6.9 **
2 77±8.8 3.6±5.5 3.0±3.5 1.2±1.8 **
Molting
3 71.4±13.6 0.7±1.6 0.7±1.6 0 **
4 67.5±13.7 2.1±3.2 0 0 **
5 75±14.6 2.7± 3.4 0 0 **
6 72.3±12.5 34.8±9.4 25.9±12.8 4.5±3.4 **
Post-molt 7 75.0±12.7 78.6±4.1 83.0±5.4 62.5±15.0 NS
8 80.4±10.3 87.5±6.2 84.8±3.4 88.4±9.4 NS
9 81.2±4.5 89.3±2.9 89.3±2.9 92.0±4.5 **
10 71.4±7.7 85.7±6.5 89.3±2.9 86.6±7.4 **
** P <0.01
M100 = 100% Molt diet
M85 = 85% Molt diet + 15 % rice hulls
M70 = 70% Molt diet + 30% rice hulls (Soe et al., 2008)
 Utilizing Different Ratios of Alfalfa and Layer Ration for Molt
Induction and Performance in Commercial Laying Hens
Breed: White Leghorn Molt induction: 9d
Age: 70-80 weeks Photoperiod: 8L:16D n = 120
Effect of treatments on feed intake and Average post molt hen-day egg
Body weight loss during molting period production from wk 1 to 39
Treatment Feed intake Body weight Treatment Average egg
g/bird loss production

Full fed 736.4a±16.5 5.2c±1.5 Full fed 60.94c±1.55

Feed 0 25.8a±0.6 Feed withdrawal 74.29a±1.31

withdrawal
Alfalfa100 82.0d±22.6 25.1a±0.5 Alfalfa100 69.53b±1.42

Alfalfa90 272.3c±39.0 23.9a±0.6 Alfalfa90 73.08a±1.26

Alfalfa70 409.4b±23.5 18.9b±0.7 Alfalfa70 61.14c±1.48

a–d Means within a column with no common superscripts differ significantly (P < 0.05)
(Donalson et al., 2005)
Consumer sensory evaluations of post-molt eggs from
hens molted by alfalfa and feed deprivation

Parameter Post-molt Post-molt feed deprivation

Alfalfa
Taste/texture rating
5.22±0.17 4.91±0.17
(0-8)
Color rating
5.45±0.18 5.20±0.15
(0-8)
Taste texture triangle
45.83±10.39 32.00±9.52
test success rate %
Color triangle test
success rate % 40.74±9.64 19.23±7.88

(Landers et al., 2005)

 Applicability of Non-Feed Removal Programs to Induce
Molting in Brown Laying Hens
Breed: Hy-line Molt induction: 10d
Age: 75 weeks Photoperiod: 8L:16D n =240

Molting program Days Feeds Water

1-10 -
1. Conventional feed Ad
withdrawal 11-28 Barley grain libtum
(CONV)
29-105 Commercial layer diet
1-10 Alfalfa meal
2. Alfalfa meal Ad
( A+F) libtum
11-105 Commercial layer diet
1-10 Barley grain
3. Barley grain Ad
(B+F) libtum
11-105 Commercial layer diet

(Sariozkan et al., 2016)

 Onset of egg 50% egg Egg Feed intake FCR
Molting Production production production (g/hen/day) (kg feed/kg
method day day (%) egg)

CONV 36.7±0.4c 43.0 ±0.5b 75.6±1.4 113.7±1.6 2.3±0.1

A+F 26.2±0.2b 30.5±0.5a 74.2±2.0 110.6±2.7 2.2±0.1

B+F 23.5±0.3a 28.2±0.4a 71.5±1.6 112.1±2.2 2.4±0.1

p value <0.001 0.019 0.210 0.607 0.375

(Sariozkan et al., 2016)

Effect of molting programs on profitability

Molting
Feed Cost Egg Profit
Program Income
(Rs./hen housed) (Rs./hen housed) (Rs./hen housed)

CONV 104.99±1.58 150.91±3.41 45.91±3.28

A+F 113.39±3.41 184.40±5.96 71.00±3.77

B+F 118.14±2.07 179.53±4.62 61.38±4.50

p value <0.001 <0.001 <0.001

(Sariozkan et al., 2016)

 Dietary Fiber Inclusion as an Alternative to Feed
Fasting to Induce Molting in Commercial Layers
Breed: lsa Brown Duration: 140d
Age: 72 weeks n = 320 Molt induction: 10d
Layer performance during the second laying cycle
Feed
Feed Relative Egg
Treatments intake production weight conversion
ratio
(g/hen/d) (%/hen/d) (g) (kg/kg)
80% alfalfa 105.04 81.53 70.52 1.86
60% alfalfa 104.34 75.76 72.92 1.98
80% soybean hulls 102.07 74.41 73.49 1.90
60% soybean hulls 102.17 65.94 69.20 2.33
Feed fasting 104.03 72.74 68.88 2.15
Probability 0.7328NS 0.2238NS 0.1519NS 0.1447NS

CV (%) 3.64 11.97 4.24 13.67

(Sgavioli et al., 2013)

 Nutritional methods of forced molting in
brown egg laying hens
Breed: Hisex Brown strain Duration: 142d
Age: 100 weeks n = 448
Average egg quality in the second productive cycle
Shell
Shell weight
Treatment thickness
(g)
(mm)

T1 6.72 0.408
T2 6.76 0.418
T3 6.50 0.409
T4 6.66 0.413
CV 5.27 0.404
T1 - birds subjected to a 10-day fast, T2 - 14 days of soybean
hull , T3 - 14 days of wheat bran , T4 - Birds received 14 days
of high tannin sorghum
(Girardon, 2011)
 Effect of Non feed withdrawal vs. feed withdrawal
molting methods on subsequent egg production

Breed: Dekalb and Hy-line W-36 Photoperiod : 10h/d Duration: 44 wks

Peak hen Egg production

Days to
day
Treatment 50%
production
production Wk 5 Wk 1 to
(%) (wk)
to 44 44

Corn 49 84.3 (12) 66b 61b

Wheat middlings 43 89.6 (14) 74ab 68ab

4-d feed withdrawal,

50 85.4 (15) 68b 62ab
then corn
10-d feed withdrawal,
47 90.7 (14) 77a 70a
then corn
Pooled SEM — — 1.6 1.7

(Koelkebeck, 2006)
 Guar Meal diets as an alternative approach to induce molt and
improve Salmonella Enteritidis resistance in Late-phase Laying hens

Breed: Lohman white Duration: 142d

Age: 63 weeks n = 43

Body Wt. % wt % wt
Days to 0
Treatment reduction reduction in reduction
egg
(%) at 9d ovary in oviduct
FW control 27.01a 0.90b 1.53b 5

20% GM 19.14b 0.83b 1.55b 6

20% GM +
16.10c 0.80b 1.57b 5
β-mannanase
Nonmolted 0.07d 2.85a 4.07a —
Pooled mean square
3.50 0.28 0.42 —
error
a-dMeans in the same column lacking a common superscript were significantly different (P ≤ 0.05)

(Gutierrez et al., 2008)

 Colonization and invasion of Salmonella enteritidis into
organs of laying hens induced to molt by various methods

Salmonella enteritidis-positive hens/total hens

Log
Salmonella
All enteritidis
Treatment Hens Crop Liver Spleen Ovary Oviduct Ceca cfu/gm of
organs
(n) caecal
contents

FW control 10 7/10a 9/10a 3/10ab 7/10a 8/10a 10/10a 44/60a 6.717a

20% GM 10 0/10b 6/10a 5/10a 3/10ab 5/10a 9/10a 28/60b 3.457b

20% GM + E 10 0/10b 1/10b 1/10ab 1/10b 5/10a 9/10a 17/60c 2.955b

Nonmolted 10 2/10b 0/10b 0/10b 0/10b 0/10b 2/10b 4/60d 1.270c

Non
3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/3 0/18 ND
challenged
(Gutierrez et al., 2008)
Effects of high Zinc diets using Zinc Propionate on molt induction
and post-molt egg production and quality in laying hens

Breed : Single comb White Leghorn Duration : 22 weeks

Age : 66 weeks Photoperiod : 8L:16D n = 142

Egg
Diet treatment
Weight (g)
Feed withdrawal 64.92 ± 0.85b

Zn acetate 66.35 ± 0.78ab

Zn propionate 68.14 ± 0.67a

Layer ration 68.37 ± 1.20a

Means within a column with no common
superscripts differ significantly ( P < 0.05)

Zinc concentration : 10,000 mg/kg of ration

(Park et al., 2004)
 Conclusions
• Most popular method of molting is complete feed withdrawal
which is easy to implement and has relatively low cost but is
heavily criticized because of animal welfare issues and
Salmonella colonisation of gastrointestinal tract

• Feeding of low nutrient rations such as alfalfa in combination

with 10% layer ration can be an effective substitute for feed
removal method with increased profitability

• Days to 50% egg production is earliest if wheat middlings is

used to induce molting

• Inclusion of 20% Guar meal in layer ration successfully induces

molting and increases the resistance of hens against Salmonella
enteritidis infection
THANK YOU