
Erin Ross' Masters Defence
The ongoing shift from conventional cage to alternative housing for layers necessitates a deeper understanding of how commercial rearing systems impact physical development in pullets. My thesis examined the effect of three styles of rearing aviaries, differing in the opportunities for load-bearing exercise available during early life, and conventional rearing cages on musculoskeletal characteristics and proximate composition in two consecutive flocks of Lohmann Brown Lite (B) and Lohmann Select Leghorn Lite (W) laying hen pullets.