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The extent of the feathers covering a bird’s body and the condition of the plumage largely determine the bird’s well-being and aesthetic condition. This investigation aimed to compare changes in the plumage status of laying hens in dissimilar housing systems in the egg-laying period. The experiment was carried out with 1460 non-beak-trimmed laying hens, provided by Bábolna TETRA Ltd., representing a part of the Rhode-type elite lines (Rhode Island Red (RIR) and Rhode Island White (RIW)) used for breeding brown layer hybrids. Hens were kept in the closed experimental laying house of MATE University (Kaposvár Campus), where the RIR and RIW hens were placed into three types of housing systems: EU standard furnished cage (EU) (7560 cm2; 10 hens/cage; 756 cm2/hen); Alternative pen (A) (5.52 m2, floor and litter combination, 53 hens/pen; 1040 cm2/hen); and Conventional cage (C) (3780 cm2; 6 hens/cage; 630 cm2/hen). The feathering status of the hens was examined at five body parts: neck, breast, wings, back and tail at 33, 45 and 61 weeks of age, which was evaluated on a four-grade scale by the same experienced scorer, and the cumulated plumage point (5–20) was calculated for each hen. The RIW genotype had a better plumage condition than RIR at each of the examined times (at the 33rd week: 19.0, 18.3; at the 45th week: 18.4, 17.4; at the 61st week: 17.2, 15.5). The status of the plumage of the RIR hens had deteriorated to a greater extent. As age progressed, the plumage condition of both genotypes significantly deteriorated in all the three housing technologies. The relatively high level of deterioration can be partly explained by the fact that the animals were non-beak-trimmed. At all test times, the total feather score of the birds in the alternative cage housing was significantly better (at the 33rd week: EU: 18.4, A: 19.1, C: 18.5; at the 45th week: EU: 17.6, A: 18.6, C: 17.4; at the 61st week: EU: 15.9, A: 16.9; C: 16.1). The condition of the neck plumage was better in group RIW than in RIR, and the best in the alternative housing at each test time. At the end, the high decomposition results were striking, since at the beginning there were values close to the maximum (3.98; 3.99). It can be concluded that the reason for the dominantly favorable aviary results is that the hens in this type of housing have to come into contact with fewer mechanical factors, their companions do not jump on their backs when changing places, they do not have to stick their heads out of the grid to collect feed, etc. In addition to all this, they also had a littered scratching area and a nest lined with artificial grass, where they could scratch and take a dust bath.

The experiment was started with 1,508 Rhode Island Red (RIR) and 1,820 Rhode Island White (RIW) type non-beak-trimmed day-old pullets, which were originated from 58 RIR and 70 RIW different pedigree cocks, respectively. From all of the 128 cocks 26 half sibling offspring were tested. The pure line pullets were raised up to 18 weeks of age in a closed building, in deep litter pens and moved to the laying house and placed into three types of keeping systems [furnished cage, alternative pen (litter and floor) and conventional cage] thereafter. The number of dead birds and the cause of mortality were recorded daily during the whole rearing and egg-laying period, up to 72 weeks of age. During the rearing period the most frequent cause of mortality was wasting, which accounted for nearly 36% of the total mortality. Aggression was responsible for 28.3% of the total mortality. Depending on the type of the pullets (RIR or RIW), differences were observed in the frequency of occurrence of mortality causes. For example, oedema and beak deformation occurred only in the RIR, whereas technological injury and aggression only in the RIW pullets during the rearing period. During the egg-laying period aggression was the most common cause of mortality. Its lowest occurrence was observed in the alternative pens. In both of the examined types there were found cocks, whose offspring died exclusively by aggression, and cocks, whose offspring did not show any loss due to aggression. The ratio of these cocks differed significantly (P

The aim of the research was to examine how the nest selection preference of laying hens with different genotypes differed, the proportion of eggs laid in the litter, eggs laid in the upper and bottom nests, and the number and duration of nest visits. The experiment was conducted with laying hen genotypes provided by Bábolna TETRA Ltd. (Babolna, Hungary) (Commercial hybrid (C); pure-line maternal (Maternal); pure-line paternal offspring group (Paternal)). N = 318; n = 106 hen/genotype; and 53 hens/pen. We placed 53 19-week-old, non-beak-trimmed hens in each of the six 5.52 m2 alternative pens. We provided 14 nests for the hens at two levels per pen (3.8 hens/nest). We recorded the number of eggs laid in the nests on the bottom and upper levels, as well as within the litter. Infrared cameras were installed above the pens, and we conducted recordings on a test day at the beginning of the third production month. In our results, we found a significant difference in the proportion of litter eggs overall during the 12 months of production (C. hybrid: 30.7%; Paternal: 41.1%; Maternal: 10.2%). A significant difference was found between all genotypes in the proportions of eggs laid at the bottom (B) and upper (U) level during the 12 months of production (C. hybrid: B: 72.2%, U: 27.8%; Paternal: B: 88.0%, U: 12.0%; Maternal: B: 71.4%, U: 28.6%). The evaluation of the video recordings revealed that the C. hybrid and Paternal genotypes visited the bottom nests in 97.2% and 96.0% of the cases, respectively, and the Maternal genotype individuals in a significantly lower proportion, 72.5% of the cases; the Paternal genotype spent significantly more time (13.4 min) on average in the bottom nests compared with the C. hybrid (7.9 min) and the Maternal genotypes (8.6 min). Our conclusion is that it is not enough to ensure the desired ratio of egg nests in egg production, as laying hens may not use nests in certain positions at all. This generates a relative shortage of egg nests and can increase the ratio of eggs laid in the litter, which in turn involves human health risks.

Simple Summary The spread of both alternative and non-cage laying hen housing systems and the more forceful European refusal of beak trimming generate new problems in commercial egg production. The hybrid layers, which have been genetically selected under cage housing conditions for more decades, have lively temperament, are more susceptible for feather pecking and, in more cases, they are expressly aggressive, which led to permanent conflict situations in the large group keeping systems. Therefore, the omission of beak trimming could lead to an increased risk for feather pecking and consequently to a risk for increased mortality in the hen house by using the current commercial layers. Therefore, changes in the live weight, plumage and body condition, egg production, and mortality of different TETRA pure line non-beak-trimmed laying hens were compared during the egg-production period in our study, where the plumage condition was considered as an indicator trait for feather pecking. Our results confirm the findings of former studies that the genetic background of the hens is an important factor impacting feather pecking and suggest that breeding for an improved plumage condition might be a potential way to improve animal welfare in non-beak-trimmed layer flocks. Abstract The experiment was carried out with altogether 1740 non-beak-trimmed laying hens, which originated from Bábolna TETRA Ltd., representing two different types (Rhode Island Red (RIR) and Rhode Island White (RIW)) and four different lines (Lines 1–2: RIR, Lines 3–4: RIW). The plumage and body condition of randomly selected 120 hens (30 hens/line) was examined at 20, 46, and 62 weeks of age. The egg production and the mortality of the sampled hens were recorded daily. Based on the results, it was established that the lines differ clearly in most of the examined traits. It was also pointed out that injurious pecking of the hens resulted not only in damages in the plumage but also in the body condition. The results obviously demonstrated that the highest egg production and the lowest mortality rate were reached by those hens, which had the best plumage and body condition. Because the occurrence of injurious pecking seems to depend on the genetic background, selection of the hens (lines, families, individuals) for calm temperament will be very important in the future in order to maintain the high production level in non-beak-trimmed layer flocks.

Background and purpose Acute mortality rate of stroke in Hungary is significantly higher than in Western Europe, which is likely to be partially attributable to suboptimal treatment. Methods We examined the use of acute vascular imaging and mechanical thrombectomy for acute ischaemic stroke patients. We collected data on 20 consecutive patients from Hungarian stroke centers before 31st August 2016. Results Out of the reported 410 patients, 166 (40.4%) underwent CT angiography and 44 (10.7%) had mechanical thrombectomy. Conclusion Only about 1/3 of acute ischaemic stroke patients eligible for thrombectomy actually had it. The underlying reasons include long onset-to-door time, low utilization of acute vessel imaging and a limited neuro-intervention capacity needing improvement.

The aim of the experiment was to investigate the use and effect of a new beak-abrasive material not yet examined on mortality of non-beak trimmed laying hens of different genotypes housed in an alternative pen. The study was performed on 636 females belonging to three genotypes of Bábolna TETRA Ltd. (a1 = commercial brown layer hybrid (C), a2 = purebred male line offspring group (maternal), a3 = purebfigure ed female line offspring group (paternal)). A total of 318 hens, i.e., 106 hens/genotype distributed in six pens (53 hens/pen), were evaluated. Cylindrical beak-abrasive blocks of 5.3–5.6 kg were suspended (0.1–0.4 mm diameter gravel, limestone grit, lime hydrate, and cement mixture) in six alternative pens. In six control pens without abrasive material, 318 hens, i.e., 106 hens/genotype (2 pens control group/genotype, i.e., C1 = commercial brown layer hybrid, C2 = purebred male line offspring group, C3 = purebred female line offspring group, 53 hens/pen, ) were placed where there were no beak-abrasive materials. The rate of change in the weight of the beak-abrasive materials and the mortality rate were recorded daily. In the six pens equipped with beak-abrasive materials, infrared cameras were installed, and 24 h recordings were made. The number of individuals pecking the beak-abrasive material, the time and duration of dealing with the material were recorded. Data coming from one observation day are given. During the 13 experimental weeks of observation, the weight loss of beak-abrasives differed significantly in the different genotypes (a1 = 27.4%, a2 = 29.6%, a3 = 56.6%). During the only day analyzed, the hens from all the genotypes mostly stayed between 17:00 and 21:00 h in the littered scratching area where the beak-abrasive material was placed (a1 = 48.4%, a2 = 49.2%, a3 = 54.4%). In the case of each genotype, the rate of the hens dealing with beak-abrasives in the first two periods of the day was relatively low (0.2%–0.7%). Peaks of the activity were between 17:00 and 21:00 (a1 = 0.8%, a2 = 1.3%, a3 = 1.8%). The a3 dealt with the beak-abrasive materials to a significantly greater extent in the period from 13:00 to 17:00 (0.8%) and from 17:00 to 21:00 (1.8%) than the a1 (0.2% and 0.8%, respectively). Due to the use of the beak-abrasive materials, the mortality rate decreased the most in the genotypes that used them (a1 with beak-abrasive material 0.0% vs. C1 9.4%, a2 with beak-abrasive material 2.9% vs. C2 12.4%, a3 with beak-abrasive material) 15.4% vs. C3 5.7%). It can be concluded that the insertion of beak-abrasive materials increased the behavioral repertoire of hens, which is particularly beneficial from an animal welfare point of view. Further and longer-term research is needed to determine whether the insertion of the beak-abrasive material has a beneficial effect on the mortality data of the experimental groups through enrichment, either through physical abrasion of the beak or both.

INTRODUCTION Recent studies have reported genetic associations between with single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) of the several genes of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone (RAA) system in otosclerosis without the confirmation of RAA system expression in human stapes footplates. There are conflicting results. These results are conflicting because RAA system expression has been attributed exclusively to neural, vascular, and renal tissues, exclusively. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ankylotic stapes footplates (n = 20), cortical bone fragments (n = 10), and human kidney tissue specimens (n = 10) were processed to hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining and RAA system-specific immunofluorescent assay (IFA), respectively. RESULTS Histologic diagnosis of otosclerosis was established in all ankylotic stapes footplates. Histologically active- (n = 13) and inactive (n = 7) foci of otosclerosis were consequently characterized by negative immunoreactions for renin, angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE), angiotensin-II (AT-II), and angiotensin-II receptor (AT-IIR), consequently. In cortical bones, a considerable RAA system expression was observed confirmed in the perivascular bone marrow progenitor cells. Kidney specimens, applied as positive controls, showed intense RAA system-specific immunoreactions. CONCLUSION Concerning current observations, the 4 studied members of RAA system that did not display active expression were not expressed at protein level in otosclerotic stapes footplates. This phenomenon was independent from the histologic activity of otosclerosis. Between these conditions, the etiologic role of RAA system is questionable in the pathogenesis of otosclerosis.