Uniformity in hen and egg traits is an important consideration in commercial layer flocks. There is little information on how individual hen feed consumption and body weight affect egg quality measurements. This study investigated the variation in performance traits of individual hens and associations with egg quality characteristics. Four hundred and fifty-five ISA Brown caged hens in early lay were monitored for 42 days (25 to 30 weeks of age) to collect hen feed consumption and egg production measurements. Forty-four hens from the flock were randomly selected and eggs were collected from the same hen once weekly for albumen, yolk, and shell assessment. The means ± standard deviation of average daily feed intake (ADFI), albumen height, initial body weight (IBW), and final body weight (FBW) were 124 g ± 15, 10.3 mm ± 1.5, 1802 g ± 129, and 2000 g ± 175, respectively. Albumen height was not associated with ADFI (r = 0.18, p = 0.21), IBW (r = −0.04, p = 0.79), or FBW (r = −0.06, p = 0.69). This study showed variation in feed intake, body weight, and albumen quality of individual early-lay hens. Feed intake and body weight did not influence albumen quality.

This study was to assess the impact of permanent or temporary restricted feeding on laying hen production traits, physiology, and egg quality. Two hundred and forty individually housed ISA Brown hens were monitored across 2 phases, assigned to 3 treatments: ad libitum feeding (ALF), temporary restricted feeding (TRF) and permanent restricted feeding (PRF), n = 80 hens per treatment. In Phase 1 (P1), 22 to 40 weeks, the TRF and PRF hens were offered 115 g of feed daily. In Phase 2 (P2), 41 to 46 weeks, the TRF hens were transitioned to ALF status while the ALF and PRF hens remained as in P1. From 35 to 40 weeks, eggs were collected once weekly from 15 hens per treatment and assessed for differences in albumen, yolk, and shell variables. At 45 weeks, 10 hens each from the ALF and PRF groups were euthanized and differences in organ characteristics were assessed. In P1, feed intake, feed to egg conversion ratio and body weight (BW) change were lower (P < 0.01), while albumen height and Haugh unit were higher (P < 0.01) in both PRF and TRF hen treatments compared to hens allocated the ALF treatment. In P2, TRF and ALF hens had a higher egg production and egg mass than PRF (P < 0.01) than ALF. Body weight change in P2 was higher in TRF and similar in both ALF and PRF, while feed intake and feed conversion ratio were higher in TRF followed by ALF and least in the PRF treatment group (P < 0.01). At 45 weeks ALF hens had a greater abdominal fat pad weight and fatty liver haemorrhagic syndrome lesion score compared to PRF. Restricting hens to 115 g of feed per day from point of lay restrained BW, improved feed conversion ratio and albumen quality and reduced abdominal fat pad deposition and clinical signs of fatty liver haemorrhagic syndrome in individually housed laying hens.

Feed efficiency (FE) is an important measure of productivity in the layer industry; however, little is known about how FE differs between individual hens during the egg-laying cycle and the implications for egg quality parameters. Individual 25-week-old ISA Brown hens were observed for 42 days, ranked into three FE groups (n = 48 per High (HFE), Medium (MFE) and Low (LFE) FE groups and then monitored later in the laying cycle from 35–40 weeks. The groups exhibited different feed to egg conversion ratios (p < 0.001) from 35–40 weeks. Average daily feed intake and body weight were highest (p < 0.001) in the LFE group compared to the MFE and HFE groups, while albumen height, Haugh unit and amino acid concentrations of the albumen were significantly higher in the HFE groups compared to the LFE cohort (p < 0.001). This study concludes that FE status established in early lay is a stable variable until at least 40 weeks of age, and overweight, mid-laying hens that had poor FE produced inferior egg albumen quality measurements and composition. The distinct traits of the highly efficient hens and the poor feed efficient hens may provide important information to improving productivity in egg production.