Recently, hydroponic feed production has come to the fore to reduce the intense competition between food and feed production in the poultry industry, impro

Light exposure during incubation can influence hatching characteristics, post-hatch growth, and physiological responses in poultry. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of pre-development exposure to different cold-colored light emitting diode (LED) lights on incubation characteristics, growth performance, stress physiology, and myogenic regulatory factors (MRFs) expression level in the slow-growing native Gerze chicken breed. Fertilized eggs were incubated under red, green, white, or dark conditions. The shortest hatch window was observed under red light (42 h), while the dark condition resulted in the longest (84 h) (p < 0.05). White light exposure reduced hatchability compared to the other groups (p < 0.05), whereas green and red lights enhanced both chick weight at hatch and egg-to-chick conversion efficiency (p < 0.001). Chicks incubated under green light exhibited superior body weight during the first four weeks (p < 0.05), but those from the red light group maintained consistently higher weights thereafter (p < 0.05). The highest serotonin levels were detected in chicks from the dark group, while the lowest were associated with green light exposure. Red light exposure was associated with the lowest corticosterone concentrations (p < 0.05). Gene expression analysis revealed no significant differences in MRFs across groups. In conclusion, the spectral level of light during incubation exerts measurable effects on hatch dynamics, post-hatch growth, and hormonal regulation in Gerze chicken.

Bu çalışma ülkemize ait yerli Gerze tavuklarının yumurta ağırlığı ve yumurta şekil indeksinde yaşa bağlı meydana gelen değişimleri ortaya koymaktadır. Bu amaçla on sekiz haftalık yaşta 120 yerli Gerze tavuğu kümese yerleştirilerek aydınlatma başlatılmıştır. İlk yumurtlamanın gerçekleştiği 22 hafta ile üretim dönemi sonu olarak değerlendirilen 52 haftalık yaş döneminde üretilen tüm yumurtalarda ağırlık ve şekil indeksleri bireysel olarak belirlenmiştir. Bu dönemde toplam 6913 yumurta üretilmiştir. İlk hafta elde edilen yumurtaların ortalama ağırlığı 34,48 gram olarak tespit edilirken 52 haftalık yaşta elde edilen yumurtaların ağırlığı 52,58 grama yükselmiştir. Üretim dönemi boyunca ortalama yumurta ağırlığı 48,32 gram olarak gerçekleşmiştir. Ortalama yumurta eni 39,74 mm olarak hesaplanırken, yumurta boyu 53,76 mm olarak hesaplanmıştır. Gerze tavuklarında ortalama şekil indeksi 74,05 olarak belirlenmiştir.

In this study, the broiler performance of Turkish Gerze chickens was investigated. One hundred and thirty day-old chicks were reared under intensive conditions until 20 weeks of age to examine whether administering a vitamin supplement via their drinking water would affect broiler performance. During this period, one group received the vitamin supplement, starting at four weeks of age, and the other (the control group) did not. At 20 weeks old, the chickens given the vitamin supplement had an average live weight of 1686 g and a feed conversion ratio of 4.47, while the control group was significantly lighter, at 1408 g, with a feed conversion ratio of 4.63. Dressing percentages were not significantly affected by vitamin supplementation, and averaged around 68%. The proportion of edible giblets also did not significantly differ between the two groups, contributing approximately 5%–6% of the carcass. The largest carcass component in both treatment groups was the legs, constituting 32%–33% of the carcass in males and 28% in females. Breast meat made up 22%–27% of the carcass, and this was not significantly influenced by vitamin supplementation. The pH and colour of the breast and leg meat were evaluated as meat quality traits, and these quality parameters were within acceptable limits for poultry meat for all groups.

To test the effects of requeening in Bombus terrestris, at colony foundation phase, a total of 60 colonies were randomly assigned to one of three treatment groups. The first group (S) involved colonies that were requeened with newly hibernated queens after all the workers in the first brood had emerged. In the second group (P), we requeened the colonies with newly hibernated queens when they reached some 40 workers and in the third group (C), original queens of colonies were retained and considered as a control group. Queen acceptance rate was far lower in the P group (40%) than in the S group (90%). Colony lifespan was significantly longer in the P group (83.57 ± 3.55 days) than in the C group (76.70 ± 2.76 days). We found no significant difference in the number and timing of sexual production between groups. The results suggest that the requeening method is not suitable for bumble bee mass rearing. But, during the early phase of colony growth if the founder queen dies, introducing a new queen to the colony can be useful to reduce colony loss.