Hormonal Changes, Immune Response and Date of Reentry in Laying Hens Fed by Alfalfa Molt Diet

BACKROUND: The use of feed withdrawal method for molt induction can be caused physiological stress and negatively affected the immunological response of hens.
The aim of the present study was to survey of hormonal changes and immunological response in hens fed by alfalfa molt diet during the molt period.
In this experiment 108 Hy-line (W36) laying hens aged 74 weeks in a completely randomized design with 3 treatments and 6 replicates were used. The using treatments for 12 days molt period were included: 1- control group fed with layer ration (FF), 2- feed withdrawal group (FW), 3- group fed with 90% alfalfa and 10% layer ration (A90). Performance of birds was monitored for 12 weeks after the end of the molting period.
Total circulating leukocyte were generally lower in FW hens group compared with the other groups during the initial stage of molt (P The results showed that, A90 diet can limit physiological stress and improve the performance of immunological response that accompany feed withdrawal method during an induced molt.