DESCRIPTION OF PROBLEM

Alternative production systems, such as cage-free or free-range egg production, have been growing in numbers to satisfy recent changes in consumer demands [1]. Concerns about the impact of using the cage environment on layer hen well-being have been a driving force in this expansion. In response to consumer concerns re-garding caged layer welfare, both the commer-cial egg production sector and small-scale egg producers use commercial hybrids and standard breeds of chickens, respectively, in flocks rang-ing in size from 20,000 to 100 hens and produce eggs in both cage-free and free-range settings. One of the predominant issues with this transi-tion in production management methods is that the current knowledge base of how alternative production methods influence egg performance and quality characteristics is limited to publica-© 2012 Poultry Science Association, Inc. A comparative examination of rearing parameters and layer production performance for brown egg-type pullets grown for either free-range or cage productio