The aim of this trial was to determine the influence of aerial perches on welfare and production parameters in free-range laying hens. Five commercial free-range houses, each containing between 7000 and 8000 birds, were used. Each house and range area was split in half to create two treatments. In half of the house the birds …
Studies on the prevalence of feather pecking in different commercial laying hen systems and its welfare and economic impacts are reviewed in the following paper. Current methods for controlling feather pecking include beak-trimming and alterations to light regimes, but these methods have significant disadvantages from the perspective of bird welfare. A substantial body of research …
Although the rearing period has an important influence on the development of feather pecking in laying hens, few studies have quantified the risk factors operating on commercial farms during this time and identified their long-term impact. Our aim was to conduct a longitudinal study to investigate the effect of rearing environment on feather pecking in …
Commercial laying hen chicks experience continuous light for up to 24 h/day in the first week of life. Under these conditions, active chicks disturb, and may direct feather pecks towards resting ones. Previous experimental work with small groups showed that both problems were reduced in chicks brooded by dark brooders (heaters). The current study aimed …
Redirected behaviors occur when some course of action is thwarted or inhibited (frustration). They also occur as adjunctive behaviors in operant conditioning tasks, where they might reflect frustration about unrewarded responses. Because frustration is associated with stress, which could interfere with learning and memory, we studied whether the occurrence of redirected behavior is correlated with …
This study was performed with pullets to evaluate the effects of dietary yeast extract on bird performances and feather pecking. A total of 2400, 10-weeks-old pullets were divided into 8 groups: C, R,L and LR are control, feed restriction (from 09h00 to 15h00), litter removal (from 12 to 17 weeks of age) and both feed …
Recent studies in laying hens have shown that feather peckers eat more feathers than nonpeckers.We hypothesized that food pellets containing feathers would decrease the birds’ appetite for feathers and thereby also decrease feather pecking. To separate the effect of feathers from that of insoluble fiber per se, additional control groups were fed pellets containing similar …
Environment, Well – Being and Behaviour
1. The study investigated the feeding of a high oil and fibre diet containing 260 g/kgorganically produced cold pressed sunflower …
An experiment was performed to investigate the effect of animal versus vegetable protein sources in the diet on the development of behavior in laying hens. A diet containing protein sources of only vegetable origin was compared with four diets, each containing one of four processed animal proteins (PAPs). Two PAPs (Daka-58 and Sonac-60) were classified …
Harmful social behaviours are prevalent in commercial farming environments and their reduction through economically feasible husbandry changes is challenging. Selective breeding may offer a complementary approach to reduce the expression of these traits. This article explores the progress made in estimating the genetic contribution to harmful social behaviours, the likely consequences of selection on these …
Recent studies have shown that spraying a distasteful substance (quinine) on a bird’s feather cover reduced short-term feather pecking. The present experiment evaluated if other substances offer similar or better protection against feather pecking. One hundred and twenty birds were divided into 12 groups of 10 birds each. Over a period of 10 days the …
1. The objectives of the present study were to validate a reduced, non-intrusive version (RLS) of the LayWel plumage scoring system in domestic laying hens with reference to complete, intrusive scoring (CLS) and to investigate the effect of these two scoring methods on corticosterone metabolite concentrations. 2. A total of 312 medium-heavy laying hens from …
Feather pecking and cannibalism in chickens can lead to injury or to death of the victims, and is thus a serious welfare and economic issue in modern poultry farming. A sib selection scheme has been initiated to genetically select a low mortality line (LML), which shows decreased mortality due to cannibalism compared to a control …
Layer breeding companies apply selection criteria to improve over 30 traits important for commercial egg production. Intensive selection for egg …
Feather pecking is a major welfare problem in egg production. It may be caused by endogenous (genetic and physiological) and environmental (feeding, density and housing conditions) factors. Despite the number and variety of experiments performed over past years, it is still not possible to define a genetic background for this trait. A possible reason is …
Feather pecking (FP) remains a major welfare and economic problem in laying hens. FP has been found to be related to other behavioural characteristics, such as fearfulness. There are indications that fearful birds are more likely to develop FP. Furthermore, FP can lead to increased fearfulness in the victims. To investigate further the relationship between …