Commercial equipment used by the turkey industry at hatch sterilizes the germinal tissue of the claw with microwave energy and the beak tissue with infrared energy. This effectively trims the claws and beaks of the birds. Two strains of Leghorn chicks (1,200 each strain) were utilized to test this technique on chickens. Half were subjected …
Bird behaviour, production, physiological measurements of stress, and pain as indicated by neural transmission in, and anatomy of the trimmed beak have been used as criteria to determine if beak trimming compromises bird well being. In addition, the welfare of those hens that are pecked by beak-intact hens has been evaluated. The welfare of a …
Beak trimming is a routine practice used in laying hens to prevent feather pecking and cannibalism. The effect of beak trimming on bird well-being depends on multiple factors, including the amount of beak that is trimmed and the quality of the procedure. The aim of this work was to determine if a relationship existed between …
Infrared lasers have been widely used for noninvasive surgical applications in human medicine, and their results are reliable, predictable, and reproducible. Infrared lasers have recently been designed for the express purpose of providing a less painful, more precise beak-trimming method compared with conventional beak trimming. This study was designed to examine the potential of the …
Beak trimming is a management practise that has long been employed by the poultry industry to reduce the deleterious effects of cannibalism and feather pecking amoung flockmates of chickens. Most studies of beak trimming have concentrated on the production and economic performance aspects of this practise. Because of the current animal welfare debate, behavioural and …
Beak trimming is routinely practiced in the poultry industry to reduce the incidence of feather pecking, aggression, and cannibalism in egg layers. Feather pecking is painful to birds and potentially induces cannibalism. Cannibalism happens in all current housing environments, cage- and free-production systems, and is one of the major causes of bird death in commercial …