Severe feather pecking (SFP) is a serious problem in the egg production industry with regard to animal welfare and performance. The multifactorial causes of SFP are discussed in the areas of genetics, feeding, husbandry, stable climate and management. Several studies on the influence of manipulable material on the incidence of SFP in different environments and housing systems have been performed. This review presents current knowledge on the effects of litter and additional enrichment elements on the occurrence of SFP in pullets and laying hens. Because SFP is associated with foraging and feed intake behaviour, the provision of manipulable material in the husbandry environment is an approach that is intended to reduce the occurrence of SFP by adequate exercise of these behaviours. As shown in the literature, the positive effect of enrichment and litter substrate on SFP in a low‐complexity cage environment is evident. On the other hand, consistent results have not been reported on the influence of additional enrichment material in housing systems with litter substrate, which represent the most common type of husbandry in Northwestern Europe. Thus, further research is recommended.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of additional enrichment materials (EMs; pecking stones and alfalfa bales) on the occurrence of plumage damage, skin injuries, and toe injuries, with an emphasis on the possible differences between commercial hybrid strains of laying hens. During rearing (weeks 1–18, 16 compartments, 4000 pullets) and laying periods (weeks 21–72, 24 compartments, 2808 hens) in a littered housing system, EMs were permanently provided to the study groups (EXP), while control groups (CON) did not receive additional EM. In a two-factorial study design (two groups with four strains) with 351 hens per variant, the brown egg-laying Lohmann Brown classic (LB) and Bovans Brown (BB) strains as well as the white egg-laying Lohmann Selected Leghorn classic (LSL) and Dekalb White (DW) strains were investigated. Compared to the CON, the EXP showed reduced body mass during rearing (p < 0.001) and reduced albumen consistency in the laying period (p < 0.001). Regarding integument condition, the LSL in the EXP showed more toe injuries than in the CON (p = 0.018). Remarkably, genotype-environment interactions between strains and groups were evident (p < 0.001). In groups with an EM supply, plumage damage decreased in LB (p ≤ 0.033) and LSL (p ≤ 0.005) but increased in BB (p ≤ 0.003). Moreover, there were fewer skin injuries in LSL (p = 0.001) but more in BB (p = 0.001) in groups with access to EM. In view of the diverging effects between strains, future practical recommendations for laying hen husbandry should be strain-specific.

The objectives of this paper were (i) to perform a systematic review of the literature over the last 21 yr and (ii) to evaluate the efficacy of selective dry cow treatment (SDCT) vs. blanket dry cow treatment (BDCT) in dairy cows regarding the risk of intramammary infection (IMI) after calving, new IMI risk after calving, cure risk during the dry period, and a reduction in antibiotic use at drying-off by meta-analysis. The systematic search was carried out using the databases PubMed, CAB Direct, and ScienceDirect. A meta-analytical assessment was performed for each outcome of interest using random-effects models, and the relative risk (RR) for IMI and cure or the pooled proportion for antibiotic use was calculated. The final number of included studies was n = 3 for IMI risk after calving and n = 5 for new IMI risk after calving, cure risk during the dry period, and antibiotic use. The RR levels for IMI (RR, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.02, 0.94–1.11; p = 0.592), new IMI (RR, 95% CI: 1.06, 0.94–1.20; p = 0.994), and cure (RR, 95% CI: 1.00, 0.97–1.02; p = 0.661) did not differ significantly between SDCT and BDCT. Substantial heterogeneity was observed between the trials regarding the pooled proportion of antibiotic use within the SDCT groups (I2 = 97.7%; p < 0.001). This meta-analysis provides evidence that SDCT seems to be an adequate alternative to BDCT regarding udder health with a simultaneous reduction in antibiotic use. Limitations might arise because of the small number of studies included.

The current prevalence of avian leukosis virus (ALV) in fancy chickens in Germany is unknown. Therefore, 537 cloacal swabs from 50 purebred fancy-chicken flocks in Saxony were tested for the presence of the ALV p27 protein using a commercial antigen-capture ELISA. The detection rate was 28.7% at the individual-animal level and 56.0% at the flock level. Phylogenetic analysis of PCR products obtained from 22 different flocks revealed the highest similarity to ALV subtype K. When classifying breeds by their origin, ALV detection rates differed significantly. Evaluation of questionnaire data revealed no significant differences between ALV-positive and negative flocks regarding mortality.