Effects of temporary feed deprivation on performance of yearling hens

Four treatment groups each of 200 hens 72 weeks old were randomly selected from a randombred white Leghorn population. Treatment groups were deprived of feed for 0 (control), 2, 4, and 6 days during the 1st week of the 25-week experiment. Hens in Treatments 2, 4, and 6 had an immediate temporary decline in egg production, but their normal rate of lay was resumed after week 5 of the experiment. Losses in egg production during fasting and recovery were compensated for by higher rates of lay during the last 15 weeks of the experiment. Body and egg weights and mortality were unaffected by treatments; however, egg specific gravity was adversely affected at week 10 in treatments where egg production continued during feed deprivation.