ArticlePoultry science2017
Opportunities for exercise during pullet rearing, Part I: Effect on the musculoskeletal characteristics of pullets.
Article in Poultry science, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
33 citing papers in PubMed, 68 citations in OpenAlex.
- Tibiotarsal mechanical behaviour is mainly a function of bone structure and not mineral density in female adolescent chickens.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Comparison of keel bone traits, eggshell production, and physiological parameters between a hybrid layer and two low-performing chicken genotypes.Frontiers in physiology · 2026Article
- Rearing enrichment affects perching behaviour and bone strength in pullets and in free-range hens varying in range use patterns.Veterinary and animal science · 2025Article
- Hen-durance training-effects of an exercise regimen on laying hen muscle architecture and fracture prevalence.Royal Society open science · 2025Article
- Exercise Volume Provides New Insight into the Effects of Housing Systems on Chicken Body Conformation, Carcass Traits, Meat Quality, and Serum Biochemical Parameters.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Impact of Perch Provision Timing on Activity and Musculoskeletal Health of Laying Hens.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2024Article
- Influence of perch provision during rearing on activity and musculoskeletal health of pullets.PloS one · 2024Article
- Reduction of wing area affects estimated stress in the primary flight muscles of chickens.Royal Society open science · 2023Article
- The development of laying hen locomotion in 3D space is affected by early environmental complexity and genetic strain.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Does wing use and disuse cause behavioural and musculoskeletal changes in domestic fowl (Royal Society open science · 2023Article
- Effect of the combination of 25-hydroxyvitamin D3 and higher level of calcium and phosphorus in the diets on bone 3D structural development in pullets.Frontiers in physiology · 2023Article
- Farm Environmental Enrichments Improve the Welfare of Layer Chicks and Pullets: A Comprehensive Review.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2022Review
- Wing-feather loss in white-feathered laying hens decreases pectoralis thickness but does not increase risk of keel bone fracture.Royal Society open science · 2022Article
- Maternal age and maternal environment affect egg composition, yolk testosterone, offspring growth and behaviour in laying hens.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Effects of rearing systems on the eggshell quality, bone parameters and expression of genes related to bone remodeling in aged laying hens.Frontiers in physiology · 2022Article
- Abnormal Bone Metabolism May Be a Primary Causative Factor of Keel Bone Fractures in Laying Hens.Animals : an open access journal from MDPI · 2021Article
- The effect of light intensity on the body weight, keel bone quality, tibia bone strength, and mortality of brown and white feathered egg-strain pullets reared in perchery systems.Poultry science · 2021Article
- Effect of photoperiod on eggshell quality and quality characteristics of tibia, femur, and ulna in laying ducks.Poultry science · 2021Article
- Cage type and mineral nutrition had independent impact on skeletal development in Lohmann LSL-Lite pullets from hatch to 16 weeks of age.Animal nutrition (Zhongguo xu mu shou yi xue hui) · 2021Article
- Effects of the housing environment and laying hen strain on tibia and femur bone properties of different laying phases of Hy-Line hens.Poultry science · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Increased load-bearing exercise improves bone quality characteristics in a variety of species, including laying hens. Providing increased opportunities for exercise during the pullet rearing phase, a period of substantial musculoskeletal growth, offers a proactive approach to reducing osteoporosis by improving bone composition. The main objective of this study was to determine whether differing opportunities for exercise during rearing influences pullet musculoskeletal characteristics. Two flock replicates of 588 Lohmann Selected Leghorn-Lite pullets were reared in either standard, conventional cages (Conv) or an aviary rearing system (Avi) from day-old chicks until 16 wk of age. The keel bone and the muscles and long bones of the wings and legs were collected at 16 wk to measure muscle growth differences between rearing treatments and quantify bone quality characteristics using quantitative computed tomography (QCT) and bone breaking strength (BBS) assessment. Keel bone characteristics and muscle weights were adjusted for BW and analyses for QCT and BBS included BW as a covariate. At 16 wk of age, rearing system had an effect on the majority of keel bone characteristics (P < 0.05). The length of the keel metasternum, caudal tip cartilage length, and the overall percentage of cartilage present on the keel at 16 wk was greater in the Avi pullets compared to the Conv pullets (P < 0.01). Wing and breast muscle weights of the Avi pullets were greater than the Conv pullets (P < 0.001), but leg muscle weights were greater in the Conv pullets (P = 0.026). Avi pullets had greater total bone density, total cross-sectional area, cortical cross-sectional area, total bone mineral content, and cortical bone mineral content than Conv pullets for the radius, humerus, and tibia (P < 0.001). Avi pullets had greater BBS compared to the Conv pullets for the radius, humerus, and tibia (P < 0.01). Increased opportunities for exercise offered by the aviary rearing system increased muscle and bone growth characteristics in pullets at 16 wk of age.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.