-
Self- and conspecific-directed pecking behavior of commercial Pekin ducks
Contributor(s):: Dong, Yiru, Karcher, Darrin M., Erasmus, Marisa A.
2021Applied Animal Behaviour Science2351052230168-159110.1016/j.applanim.2021.105223text
-
Welfare Assessment of Two Free-range Laying Hen Flocks in Turkey
Contributor(s):: Petek, Metin, Çavuşoğlu, Enver
-
Use of dynamic and rewarding environmental enrichment to alleviate feather pecking in non-cage laying hens
Contributor(s):: Daigle, Courtney L., Rodenburg, T. Bas, Bolhuis, J. Elizabeth, Swanson, Janice C., Siegford, Janice M.
Feather pecking (FP) can cause feather loss, resulting in physical injuries, which may lead to cannibalism. FP appears to be a redirection of foraging behavior, which intensifies when hens have difficulty coping with stress and fear. Dynamic environmental enrichment (EE) may allow expression of...
-
Predicting feather damage in laying hens during the laying period. Is it the past or is it the present?
Contributor(s):: de Haas, Elske N., Bolhuis, J. Elizabeth, de Jong, Ingrid C., Kemp, Bas, Janczak, Andrew M., Rodenburg, T. Bas
Feather damage due to severe feather pecking (SFP) in laying hens is most severe during the laying period. However, SFP can develop at an early age and is influenced by early rearing conditions. In this study we assessed the risk factors during the rearing and laying period for feather damage at...
-
Effects of growth pattern and dietary protein level during rearing on feed intake, eating time, eating rate, behavior, plasma corticosterone concentration, and feather cover in broiler breeder females during the rearing and laying period
Contributor(s):: van Emous, R. A., Kwakkel, René, van Krimpen, Marinus, Hendriks, Wouter
An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of growth patterns (GP) and dietary crude protein levels (CP) during rearing (2–22 weeks of age) on feed intake, eating time, eating rate, behavior, plasma corticosterone concentration, and feather cover in broiler breeder females during the...
-
The effect of rearing environment on feather pecking in young and adult laying hens
Contributor(s):: Gilani, Anne-Marie, Knowles, Toby G., Nicol, Christine J.
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...
-
Behavioural testing to determine differences between coping styles in Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus erithacus) with and without feather damaging behaviour
Contributor(s):: van Zeeland, Yvonne R. A., van der Aa, Marleen M. J. A., Vinke, Claudia M., Lumeij, Johannes T., Schoemaker, Nico J.
In various animal species, a correlation has been found between the individual's response to ‘stressing’ stimuli (coping style) in behaviour tests and the susceptibility to develop behavioural disorders. Based on analogies with feather pecking in laying hens, a similar correlation might be...
-
Pain issues in poultry
Contributor(s):: Gentle, Michael J.
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...
-
Laying hens selected for low mortality: Behaviour in tests of fearfulness, anxiety and cognition
Contributor(s):: Nordquist, Rebecca E., Heerkens, Jasper L. T., Rodenburg, T. Bas, Boks, Sabine, Ellen, Esther D., van der Staay, F. Josef
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...
-
The influence of access to aerial perches on fearfulness, social behaviour and production parameters in free-range laying hens
Contributor(s):: Donaldson, Caroline Julie, O’Connell, Niamh Elizabeth
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....
-
Effect of four processed animal proteins in the diet on behavior in laying hens
Contributor(s):: van Krimpen, Marinus, Veldkamp, Teun, Binnendijk, Gisabeth, de Veer, Remco
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...
-
The effect of dark brooders on feather pecking on commercial farms
Contributor(s):: Gilani, Anne-Marie, Knowles, Toby G., Nicol, Christine J.
Commercial laying hen chicks experience continuous light for up to 24h/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...
-
Breeding against harmful social behaviours in pigs and chickens: State of the art and the way forward
Contributor(s):: Turner, Simon P.
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...
-
Bathing behavior of captive Orange-winged Amazon parrots (Amazona amazonica)
Contributor(s):: Murphy, Shannon M., Braun, Jerome V., Millam, James R.
Feather maintenance behaviors, particularly preening and bathing, are nearly universal in birds, though their expression and function vary across species. Based on the rain-bathing style of wild Amazon parrots, parrots were sprayed with water to simulate rainfall, and subsequent bathing...
-
Applying chemical stimuli on feathers to reduce feather pecking in laying hens
Contributor(s):: Harlander-Matauschek, Alexandra, Rodenburg, T. Bas
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...
-
Feather performance, walking ability, and behavioral changes of geese in response to different stocking densities
Contributor(s):: Yin, Luyao, Yang, Haiming, Xu, Lei, Zhang, Jun, Xing, Hao, Wang, Zhiyue
In recent decades, goose production has become more specialized and widespread, and rearing geese in plastic wire-floor pens is common in China. This type of rearing pattern is more productive than other rearing patterns since it allows for more birds per square meter. However, it brings some...
-
Provision of a resource package reduces feather pecking and improves ranging distribution on free-range layer farms
Contributor(s):: Pettersson, Isabelle C., Weeks, Claire A., Nicol, Christine J.
The effect of a resource package designed to reduce inter-bird pecking and increase range use was tested on fourteen free-range farms in the UK. The package comprised two types of objects intended to attract pecking behaviour: ‘pecking pans’ containing a particulate pecking block, and wind...
-
Both feather peckers and victims are more asymmetrical than control hens
Contributor(s):: Tahamtani, Fernanda M., Forkman, Björn, Hinrichsen, Lena K., Riber, Anja B.
Feather pecking is the major welfare issue facing the egg farming industry worldwide. Previous research has found a relationship between cannibalistic behaviour, fluctuating asymmetry of bilateral traits (FA) and body weight in laying hens. As cannibalism is linked to severe feather pecking, it...
-
Feeding, foraging, and feather pecking behaviours in precision-fed and skip-a-day-fed broiler breeder pullets
Contributor(s):: Girard, Ms Teryn E., Zuidhof, Martin J., Bench, Clover J.
Broiler breeder chickens are feed-restricted to control growth and maximize chick production. Feed restriction creates welfare concerns as conventional skip-a-day feeding can increase activity levels and oral stereotypies during the rearing period. A precision feeding system has been developed to...
-
Feather pecking genotype and phenotype affect behavioural responses of laying hens
Contributor(s):: van der Eijk, Jerine A. J., Lammers, Aart, Li, Peiyun, Kjaer, Joergen B., Rodenburg, T. Bas
Feather pecking (FP) is a major welfare and economic issue in the egg production industry. Behavioural characteristics, such as fearfulness, have been related to FP. However, it is unknown how divergent selection on FP affects fearfulness in comparison to no selection on FP. Therefore, we...