Effects of two different rearing systems (organic and barn) on production performance, animal welfare traits and egg quality characteristics in laying hens

Alternative housing systems for hen eggs production represents clear evidence of the trend in animal housing and husbandry towards extensive rearing methods. Consumer demand is oriented towards healthy foods controlled not only under a safety point of view, but also under a welfare assessment of the animals' living conditions. Among the different alternative systems deep litter and organic production in recent years have been improved in Italy. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether different housing systems (barn B and organic O) for laying hens may influence productive performance, fear responses and egg quality characteristics. A total of 4,745 birds were housed in the B system and 2,016 in the O system, both of which were commercial facilities. In each system the same strain (Hy-Line Brown) was housed and layer performance, external and internal egg characteristics, mortality and feed consumption were recorded weekly. Animal reactivity was recorded monthly with the approaching test. Moreover, the Tonic Immobility test was conducted at 70 weeks of age; feather and foot pad conditions were also investigated at the same time. The peak of laying was reached in both housing systems at 25 weeks of age and was higher in organic hens (94.5%) than in barn hens (93.0%). Feed conversion rate during the overall laying period was 2.36 vs 2.20, respectively, in O and B housing systems. There was a significant difference concerning the eggs classified as very dirty, dirty and cracked between the two systems. The dirty eggs were higher in O system probably due to laying eggs in a free range area, while the higher number of cracked eggs in B system may be due to a significantly less shell thickness in this system. Egg weight increased with layer age in both housing systems. Animals reared in O system showed less fearfulness than in B emphasised by the approaching and Tonic Immobility test results. Feather scoring did not evidence any severe plumage damage; statistical analysis showed some significant differences in comb and back areas between O and B systems. The hens reared on litter showed more aggressive pecking than the organic hens probably due to difference both in light intensity and in density

Characteristics of reared game pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)'s egg

Chemical and physical characteristics of game pheasant (Phasianus colchicus)’s egg were studied and compared with domesticfowl (Gallus gallus domesticus)’s egg. The birds were housed in individual cages in a environmentally controlled room(T=18÷20°C; 16L:8D) and fed ad libitum standard breeder diet. A sample of thirty eggs was analysed for each phase of thelaying period (beginning, peak and end). The following chemico-physical parameters: egg, albumen, yolk and shell weight;yolk colour; egg and shell dry matter (DM); shell thickness (blunt end, pointed end and middle part) were measured. Theprotein, lipid, and cholesterol content was evaluated; the fatty acid (FA) profile analysed. We observed: egg weight averageof 34.5g ; a high proportion of yolk (37%) in the whole egg (Y/E), consequently, a high lipid content of 13.9%; a protein contentDM of 44.3%; the fatty acid composition was similar to that of chicken egg and the oleic acid (36.4%) was the majorproportion of the total fatty acids, as in the domestic fowl. The rearing pheasant’s egg has a high nutritive concentration, dueto high ratio yolk/whole egg, with biological and nutritional characteristics similar to domestic fowl’s egg

Non di solo arte. Viaggio in Italia tra voci e numeri della giovane arte contemporanea

I giovani artisti in Italia: chi sono, che cosa fanno, quanto guadagnano. Le ambizioni, i percorsi di formazione, i rapporti con il mercato.- Indice #7- Prefazione, Maria Sole Agnelli Teodorani Fabbri e Luigi Guidobono Cavalchini Garofoli #11- L’idea e gli obiettivi del progetto #17- La forcina piegata: un’introduzione alla ricerca #21- Cap.I I risultati in sintesi #25- Cap.II Il sistema dell’arte contemporanea in Italia #29- Cap.III Identikit degli artisti #33- Cap.IV Lavoro artistico e reddito #51- Cap.V I percorsi di formazione #65- Cap.VI L’arte e il suo mercato #77- Cap.VII Le politiche pubbliche #91- Cap.VIII Gli spazi indipendenti #103- Cap.IX Generazioni e opportunità a confronto #111- Cap.X #159- Cap.XI Pensieri sull’arte #181- Cap.XII Alcuni percorsi possibili per l’arte contemporanea in Italia #199- Metodologia della ricerca #203- Rassegna bibliografica ragionata #217- Riferimenti bibliografici #225- Siti web #232- Allegati #23