Table 2. The mean body weight, feed intake and egg production of laying hens subjected to various molting methods before and after molt induction1)

Control MD WB CZn MZn Pooled SEM p-value
Egg production
 Before molt induction (%) 84.2 82.3 81.5 82.3 82.3 2.675 0.963
 During 7 d of molt (%) 31.6c 70.7a 73.3a 40.9b 36.9bc 2.750 < 0.001
Egg weight
 During 7 d of molt (g/egg) 39.7d 59.8ab 61.0a 53.1bc 50.6c 2.480 < 0.001
 Day to cessation of laying (d) 5.9 - - 6.9 7.0 0.342 0.060
Mean BW
 Before molt induction (g/bird) 1,937 1,919 1.962 1.913 1.948 26.291 0.666
 After molt (g/bird) 1.483c 1.593b 1.704a 1.546bc 1.537bc 31.257 < 0.001
 Weight loss (%) 23.5a 16.6bc 13.1c 19.2ab 21.1ab 1.443 < 0.001
 Feed intake during 10 d of molt (g/d/bird) - 84.2a 90.3a 21.8b 18.4b 3.073 < 0.001
 Weight of ovary after molting (g/100 g BW) 0.58b 2.19a 2.20a 0.86b 0.72b 0.104 < 0.001
Data are least square of mean of eight replicates with two cages (five birds per cage).
Mean values with different superscripts within the same row differ significantly (p < 0.05).
Control, fasting group; MD, group received induced molting diet; WB, group received wheat bran based diet; CZn, group fed commercial layer diet with 8,000 ppm zinc; MZn, group fed induced molting diet with 8,000 ppm zinc; BW, body weight.