Concepts and methods for understanding bone metabolism in laying hens

Laying hens have a unique bone turnover due to the daily egg laying cycle. Laying hens have three distinctive kinds of bones related to egg formation: cortical, cancellous, and medullary bones.   Cortical bone is a compact structural bone, whereas cancellous bone is the three-dimensional lattice-like honeycomb architecture at the end of long bones. Medullary bone is a highly labile woven bone lying in the marrow cavities. Medullary bone acts as Ca storage for egg shell formation. Thus, bone qua