The question of whether attributes of the combs of laying hens have any consistent relationship with dominance behaviour has yet to be answered unequivocally. This study sought to address this by investigating whether a relationship existed between the competitive ability of hens within stable groups and the size or colour of their combs. Pullets (n …
Personal willingness to pay, an important research aspect on nonhuman animal welfare, is the foundation of animal welfare legislation. As China has no special laws on the issue, it is important to study animal welfare. This article assesses personal willingness to pay for animal welfare in China, using the Contingent Valuation Method. Based on collected …
This paper assesses US resident support for mandatory labeling of animal welfare information on pork and egg products and outlines policy considerations for assessment prior to implementing any mandatory labeling policies regarding animal welfare practices. Results suggest consumers support mandatory labeling indicating use of gestation crates (stalls) and laying hen cages. Estimates suggest consumers would …
Play has long been identified as a potential welfare indicator because it often disappears when animals are under fitness challenge and because it is thought to be accompanied by a pleasurable emotional experience. But animal play is a vexing behavioural phenomenon, characteristically flexible and variable within and between species, with its proximate mechanisms and ultimate …
Future costs of compliance with obligatory animal welfare standards in the EU for poultry and egg production are signiWcant and may lead to relocation of production to third countries. After an overview of diVerent rationales for complementary policies to prevent relocation, this article systematically compares such policies. Some policies, like multilateral agreements and labelling, may …
Under current practices, broiler parent stock (broiler breeders) encounter several welfare problems, such as feed restriction and injury during mating. Intensive selection for production traits, especially growth rate, is associated with increased nutritious requirement and thus feed consumption, but also reproductive dysfunctions and decreased sexual activity in broiler breeders. A resulting serious welfare problem is …
The major structural changes that have occurred in poultry production and marketing in recent decades have been driven by the …
The main objective of this work was to describe the characteristics of and major constraints to village chicken production in …
After more than ten years of circulation of the H5N1 HPAI virus, the number of endemically infected countries is increasing …
A breeding program has been established in 2008 to improve productivity of Horro chicken, an indigenous population in the western …
Indigenous and local breeds still contribute meaningfully to poultry meat and egg production and consumption in developing countries, where they …
The efficiency and profitability of family enterprises using indigenous poultry are limited by disease, production constraints, and external factors. The …
Village poultry make a significant contribution to poverty alleviation and household food security in many developing countries. This contribution by …
Birds dissipate considerable heat through respiratory-evaporative and cutaneous-evaporative mechanisms and sensible heat loss (SHL) via radiation, convection, and conduction. The significance of SHL in laying hens is still to be confirmed. This study aimed to elucidate the effect of ventilation on egg production and quality during exposure to high ambient temperature. Lohman laying hens were …
This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of force molting programs on egg production and quality oflaying hens. Total of 165 white Bovines laying hens at 72 weeks of age were divided into four groups. Birds in-group 1 (control), birds in group 2, 3 and 4 were fasted for 10, 12 and 15 days, …
In the context of the European Union ban on battery cages by 2012, a survey was conducted among Flemish egg producers (60% response rate, 140 completed questionnaires) about the introduction and opinion of alternative housing systems. Belgium appears to be among the countries in the European Union that are slower to adopt alternative housing. Belgium’s …