OIE ad hoc Group Animal Welfare and Laying Hen Production Systems – Chapter 7.Z – November 2017
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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 …
Commercial laying hens in North America are typically beak trimmed to prevent injury and mortality caused by feather pecking and cannibalism. Beak trimming is most commonly performed on day-old chicks at the hatchery, either by hot blade (HB) or infrared (INF) techniques. The differences between these 2 methods and the potential variability within each method …
Effects of different infrared beak treatment protocolson chicken welfare and physiology
In the commercial poultry industry, feather pecking leads to damage to the chickens and anincreased mortality rate. The effects of two (possible) feather pecking prevention methods,infrared trimming and maternal care, on production parameters, fear, sociality, learning,feeding behavior, and feeding motivation were examined in young Silver Nick hens. Thirty-nine Silver Nick hens were tested from the …
This review highlights the possible pain experienced by layer and broiler poultry in modern husbandry conditions. Receptors which respond to noxous stimulation (nociceptors) have been identified and physiologically characterised in many different part of the body of the chicken including the beak, mouth, nose, joint capsule and scaly skin. Stimulation of these nociceptors produces cardiovascular …
Commercial egg laying farms are under intense pressure to eliminate the practice of beak trimming due to the potential for acute and chronic pain to the trimmed birds. However, elimination of beak trimming may have severe implications for animal welfare, as pecking between untrimmed birds can result in body damage that can ultimately lead to …
Since the advent of the animal welfare movement in the early sixties, a considerable amount of research has been generated in an attempt to address questions surrounding cage housing. beak trimming, and induced molting practises for poultry. Although researchers have had difficulty in clearly defining and accurately measuring welfare from a scientific perspective, some interesting …
Two experiments were conducted to determine the efficacy and possible economic benefits of using environmental enrichment devices (EED) to alter the behavior of two White Leghorn strains in laying cages. The first experiement compared using EEDs with beak-trimmed (BT) and non-beak-trimmed (non-BT) birds; the second experiement compared three different cage densities with and without EEDs. …