There is a trend towards extended periods of lay in the laying hen industry. Extended cycles without a moulting stage gives the opportunity to obtain more eggs from a single hen. However, appropriate management and care for older laying hens is needed. In this trial we assessed the prevalence of conditions in old laying hens with a focus on neoplastic diseases. In total 150 ISA Brown and 150 Dekalb white laying hens were selected at 86 weeks of age. Of each hen line, 75 hens were necropsied at 86 weeks of age; the other half were monitored for 44 weeks after which they were necropsied. At week 86, 15.3% of the hens suffered from a neoplasm, ISA Brown being the most affected. During the follow up period, 50 birds died because of a natural cause of which 20 hens showed signs of a neoplasms. At the end of the follow up period, 43% of the hens were affected by a neoplasm. Adenocarcinoma was the most prevalent neoplasm and equally distributed among both hen lines. Leiomyomas were most frequently observed in ISA brown hens. Among causes of death, 19.05% of ISA brown and 20.69% of Dekalb White was attributed to a neoplasm. Furthermore, link with ovarian activity and other pathologies were made with significant correlations between adenocarcinomas and inactive ovaries. In conclusion, this study shows that the prevalence of adenocarcinoma and leiomyoma is a factor to be considered in longer laying cycles with 1/5th of the mortality caused by these processes.RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTSAt 86 weeks of age, the prevalence of neoplasms was 15.3%, mainly in brown hens.At 130 weeks of age, 43% of the hens were affected by a neoplasm.Adenocarcinoma was the most prevalent neoplasm equally distributed among hen lines.Leiomyoma was the second most prevalent neoplasm, mainly found in brown hens.
Keywords: Laying hen; adenocarcinoma; extended production cycle; leiomyoma; neoplasm; prevalence.