Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-dnltx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T14:19:57.727Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Can substrate in early rearing prevent feather pecking in adult laying hens?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

IC de Jong ,
BFJ Reuvekamp  and
H Gunnink
IC de Jong*
Affiliation:
Wageningen UR Livestock Research, PO Box 65, 8200 AB Lelystad, The Netherlands
BFJ Reuvekamp
Affiliation:
Wageningen UR Livestock Research, PO Box 65, 8200 AB Lelystad, The Netherlands
H Gunnink
Affiliation:
Wageningen UR Livestock Research, PO Box 65, 8200 AB Lelystad, The Netherlands
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: Ingrid.dejong@wur.nl
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In The Netherlands, laying hen chicks are often reared without litter on the raised slatted area of a barn system or confined in the aviary system during the first two to five weeks after hatching, with chick paper or chicken wire on the floor. In the absence of a suitable pecking substrate, chicks may redirect their pecking behaviour to other birds, which possibly increases the risk of developing feather-pecking behaviour. The aim of this study was to determine whether housing on wood-shavings (WS treatment; n = 15 groups) as compared to housing on chicken wire (CW treatment; n = 15 groups) between day 1-20 could reduce feather pecking in adult birds. After day 20, all chickens were allowed wood-shavings as litter. Behavioural observations showed that CW chicks performed significantly less ground-pecking behaviour compared with WS chicks up to day 20. More CW chicks showed gentle feather pecking at day 7 and 14 as compared to WS chicks, and more CW chicks pecked at the feeder or drinker than WS chicks up to day 20. CW chicks showed rebound behaviour: the day after they were introduced to wood-shavings they displayed more ground-pecking behaviour compared to the WS chicks. Later on in the rearing period no noticeable differences between treatments were found in frequency of gentle and severe feather-pecking bouts. During laying, more gentle feather-pecking bouts were observed in CW than in WS groups but no differences in severe feather-pecking bouts were observed, nor in feather damage at the end of the trial. The results indicate that hens can display substantial flexibility in their pecking behaviour and that, despite more gentle feather pecking in CW hens in laying, the absence of substrate in early rearing does not increase the risk of developing severe feather-pecking behaviour when adult.

Keywords

animal welfarefeather peckingground peckinglaying hensontogenysubstrate
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , August 2013 , pp. 305 - 314
Copyright
© 2013 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bestman, M, Koene, P and Wagenaar, JP 2009 Influence of farm factors on the occurrence of feather pecking in organic reared hens and their predictability for feather pecking in the laying period. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 121: 120–125. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2009.09.007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bilcik, B and Keeling, LJ 1999 Changes in feather condition in relation to feather pecking and aggressive behaviour in laying hens. British Poultry Science 40: 444–451. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00071669987188CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Blokhuis, HJ 1986 Feather-pecking in poultry: its relation with ground pecking. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 16: 63–67CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blokhuis, HJ and Arkes, JG 1984 Some observations on the development of feather-pecking in poultry. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 121(2): 145–157. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0168-1591(84)90104-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blokhuis, HJ and Vanderhaar, JW 1989 Effects of floor type during rearing and of beak trimming on ground pecking and feather pecking in laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 22: 359–369. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0168-1591(89)90030-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chow, A and Hogan, JA 2005 The development of feather pecking in Burmese red junglefowl: the influence of early experience with exploratory-rich environments. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 933(4): 283–294. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2005.01.004CrossRefGoogle Scholar
de Jong, IC, Rommers, J, Gunnink, H and Bracke, MBM 2013 Effect of substrate during early rearing on floor- and feather pecking behaviour in young and adult laying hens. Archiv für Geflügelkunde 77: 15–22Google Scholar
Dennis, RL and Cheng, HW 2012 Effects of different infrared beak treatment protocols on chicken welfare and physiology. Poultry Science 91: 1499–1505. http://dx.doi.org/10.3382/ps.2011-01651CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dixon, LM 2008 Feather pecking behaviour and associated welfare issues in laying hens. Avian Biology Research 12: 73–87. http://dx.doi.org/10.3184/175815508X363251CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Drake, KA, Donnelly, CA and Dawkins, MS 2010 Influence of rearing and lay risk factors on propensity for feather damage in laying hens. British Poultry Science 51: 725–733. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00071668.2010.528751CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Freire, R, Eastwood, MA and Joyce, M 2011 Minor beak trimming in chickens leads to loss of mechanoreception and magnetoreception. Journal of Animal Science 89: 1201–1206. http://dx.doi.org/10.2527/jas.2010-3129CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Genstat 2010 Genstat for Windows, 13th Edition. VSN International: Hemel, Hempstead, UKGoogle Scholar
Green, LE, Lewis, K, Kimpton, A and Nicol, CJ 2000 Cross-sectional study of the prevalence of feather pecking in laying hens in alternative systems and its associations with management and disease. Veterinary Record 147: 233–238. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/vr.147.9.233CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huber-Eicher, B and Wechsler, B 1997 Feather pecking in domestic chickens: its relation to dustbathing and foraging. Animal Behaviour 54: 757–768. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1996.0506CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huber-Eicher, B and Wechsler, B 1998 The effect of quality and availability of foraging materials on feather pecking in laying hens. Animal Behaviour 55: 861–873. http://dx.doi.org/10.1006/anbe.1997.0715CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huber-Eicher, B and Sebö, F 2001 Reducing feather pecking when raising laying hen chicks in aviary systems. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 73: 59–68. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(01)00121-6CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Johnsen, PF and Vestergaard, KS 1996 Dustbathing and pecking behaviour in chicks from a high and a low feather pecking line of laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 49: 237–246. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0168-1591(96)01049-0CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johnsen, PF, Vestergaard, KS and Norgaard-Nielsen, G 1998 Influence of early rearing conditions on the development of feather pecking and cannibalism in domestic fowl. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 60: 25–41. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(98)00149-XCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kjaer, JB and Vestergaard, KS 1999 Development of feather pecking in relation to light intensity. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 62: 243–254. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(98)00217-2CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lambton, SL, Knowles, TG, Yorke, C and Nicol, CJ 2010 The risk factors affecting the development of gentle and severe feather pecking in loose housed laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 123: 32–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2009.12.010CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McAdie, TM and Keeling, LJ 2002 The social transmission of feather pecking in laying hens: effects of environment and age. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 752: 147–159. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(01)00182-4CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newberry, RC, Keeling, LJ, Estevez, I and Bilcik, B 2007 Behaviour when young as a predictor of severe feather pecking in adult laying hens: the redirected foraging hypothesis revisited. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 1073(4): 262–274. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2006.10.010CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nicol, CJ, Lindberg, AC, Phillips, AJ, Pope, SJ, Wilkins, LJ and Green, LE 2001 Influence or prior exposure to wood shavings on feather pecking dustbathing and foraging in adult laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 73: 141–155. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(01)00126-5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nicol, CJ, Potzsch, C, Lewis, K and Green, LE 2003 Matched concurrent case-control study of risk factors for feather pecking in hens on free-range commercial farms in the UK. British Poultry Science 44: 515–523. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00071660310001616255CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Prescott, NB, Wathes, CM and Jarvis, JR 2003 Light, vision and the welfare of poultry. Animal Welfare 12: 269–288Google Scholar
Riber, AB, Wichman, A, Braastad, BO and Forkman, B 2007 Effects of broody hens on perch use ground pecking feather pecking and cannibalism in domestic fowl Gallus gallus domesticus. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 106: 39–51. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2006.07.012CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanotra, GS, Vestergaard, KS, Agger, JF and Lawson, LG 1995 The relative preference for feathers, straw, wood shavings and sand for dustbathing, pecking and scratching in domestic chicks Applied Animal Behaviour Science 43: 263–277. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0168-1591(95)00562-7CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van de Weerd, HA and Elson, A 2006 Rearing factors that influence the propensity for injurious feather pecking in laying hens. World's Poultry Science Journal 62: 654–664Google Scholar
Vestergaard, KS and Lisborg, LS 1993 A model of feather pecking development which relates to dustbathing in the fowl. Behaviour 126: 291–308. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/156853993X00146CrossRefGoogle Scholar