Influence of Increased Freedom of Movement on Welfare and Egg Laying Pattern of Hens Kept in Aviaries

Nannoni, Eleonora; Buonaiuto, Giovanni; Martelli, Giovanna; Lizzi, Gabriele; Trevisani, Giacomo; Garavini, Gloria; Sardi, Luca

doi:10.3390/ani12182307

Cited by 21 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…Examining the genotype-environment correlation, similar to previous research [26], it can be concluded that the herds housed in the alternative pen housing technology had the most favorable results. In another very interesting study [27], the state of the hens' plumage was the best where the hens could move freely, vertically and horizontally. Where only one of these was possible, it was worse.…”

Section: Plumage Conditionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Investigation of the Plumage Condition of Non-Beak-Trimmed Rhode ISLAND-Type Pedigree Hens in Cages and Alternative Pens

Szász

Milisits²,

Orbán³

et al. 2023

Applied Sciences

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The extent of the feathers covering a bird’s body and the condition of the plumage largely determine the bird’s well-being and aesthetic condition. This investigation aimed to compare changes in the plumage status of laying hens in dissimilar housing systems in the egg-laying period. The experiment was carried out with 1460 non-beak-trimmed laying hens, provided by Bábolna TETRA Ltd., representing a part of the Rhode-type elite lines (Rhode Island Red (RIR) and Rhode Island White (RIW)) used for breeding brown layer hybrids. Hens were kept in the closed experimental laying house of MATE University (Kaposvár Campus), where the RIR and RIW hens were placed into three types of housing systems: EU standard furnished cage (EU) (7560 cm2; 10 hens/cage; 756 cm2/hen); Alternative pen (A) (5.52 m2, floor and litter combination, 53 hens/pen; 1040 cm2/hen); and Conventional cage (C) (3780 cm2; 6 hens/cage; 630 cm2/hen). The feathering status of the hens was examined at five body parts: neck, breast, wings, back and tail at 33, 45 and 61 weeks of age, which was evaluated on a four-grade scale by the same experienced scorer, and the cumulated plumage point (5–20) was calculated for each hen. The RIW genotype had a better plumage condition than RIR at each of the examined times (at the 33rd week: 19.0, 18.3; at the 45th week: 18.4, 17.4; at the 61st week: 17.2, 15.5). The status of the plumage of the RIR hens had deteriorated to a greater extent. As age progressed, the plumage condition of both genotypes significantly deteriorated in all the three housing technologies. The relatively high level of deterioration can be partly explained by the fact that the animals were non-beak-trimmed. At all test times, the total feather score of the birds in the alternative cage housing was significantly better (at the 33rd week: EU: 18.4, A: 19.1, C: 18.5; at the 45th week: EU: 17.6, A: 18.6, C: 17.4; at the 61st week: EU: 15.9, A: 16.9; C: 16.1). The condition of the neck plumage was better in group RIW than in RIR, and the best in the alternative housing at each test time. At the end, the high decomposition results were striking, since at the beginning there were values close to the maximum (3.98; 3.99). It can be concluded that the reason for the dominantly favorable aviary results is that the hens in this type of housing have to come into contact with fewer mechanical factors, their companions do not jump on their backs when changing places, they do not have to stick their heads out of the grid to collect feed, etc. In addition to all this, they also had a littered scratching area and a nest lined with artificial grass, where they could scratch and take a dust bath.

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Section: Plumage Conditionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Investigation of the Plumage Condition of Non-Beak-Trimmed Rhode ISLAND-Type Pedigree Hens in Cages and Alternative Pens

Szász

Milisits²,

Orbán³

et al. 2023

Applied Sciences

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“…Animal health and welfare plays a key role in both optimization of livestock production and the perceptions of consumers that are driving the increasing demand for ethically-sourced agriculture products [ 1 ]. This consumer drive has had a significant impact on the poultry industry, leading to an increased demand for free-range eggs, and a subsequent response by the industry towards production systems that allow hens to experience greater mobility and freedom to move.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Initial Study on the Use of Machine Learning and Radio Frequency Identification Data for Predicting Health Outcomes in Free-Range Laying Hens

Welch

Sibanda

Vilela

et al. 2023

Animals

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Maintaining the health and welfare of laying hens is key to achieving peak productivity and has become significant for assuring consumer confidence in the industry. Free-range egg production systems represent diverse environments, with a range of challenges that undermine flock performance not experienced in more conventional production systems. These challenges can include increased exposure to parasites and bacterial or viral infection, along with injuries and plumage damage resulting from increased freedom of movement and interaction with flock-mates. The ability to forecast the incidence of these health challenges across the production lifecycle for individual laying hens could result in an opportunity to make significant economic savings. By delivering the opportunity to reduce mortality rates and increase egg laying rates, the implementation of flock monitoring systems can be a viable solution. This study investigates the use of Radio Frequency Identification technologies (RFID) and machine learning to identify production system usage patterns and to forecast the health status for individual hens. Analysis of the underpinning data is presented that focuses on identifying correlations and structure that are significant for explaining the performance of predictive models that are trained on these challenging, highly unbalanced, datasets. A machine learning workflow was developed that incorporates data resampling to overcome the dataset imbalance and the identification/refinement of important data features. The results demonstrate promising performance, with an average 28% of Spotty Liver Disease, 33% round worm, and 33% of tape worm infections correctly predicted at the end of production. The analysis showed that monitoring hens during the early stages of egg production shows similar performance to models trained with data obtained at later periods of egg production. Future work could improve on these initial predictions by incorporating additional data streams to create a more complete view of flock health.

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“…The worldwide increase in demand for meat products and the increasingly competitive market has directed industries to reach greater productivity, higher meat quality [ 1 , 2 ] and lower costs. Therefore, facilities have become smaller, aiming to house the largest number of animals in the smallest space [ 3 ]. Sows have been housed in individual pens during gestation and lactation to optimize space and increase reproductive control [ 4 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Performance and Welfare of Sows Exposed to Auditory Environmental Enrichment in Mixed or Collective Housing Systems

Mendes

Caldara

Burbarelli

et al. 2023

Animals

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The research aimed to assess the effects of auditory environmental enrichment on sows in mixed housing (caged until 35 days after insemination and then collective pens) or collective housing (caged until 72 h after insemination and then collective pens). Reproductive performance, body surface and eye temperature (ET) were evaluated as sows’ welfare indicators. A sample of 56 sows between 2nd and 6th parity was submitted to the treatments from artificial insemination to weaning. The sows were assigned in a randomized block design with a 2 × 2 factorial scheme of treatments: mixed housing—control (MH-C), collective housing—control (CH-C), mixed housing—music (MH-M) and collective housing—music (CH-M). Auditory enrichment consisted of exposing sows daily throughout gestation and lactation to 6 h of classical music divided into 2 h periods. The ET of pregnant sows in collective housing was lower than that of sows in mixed housing (33.77 °C vs. 34.91 °C). Pregnant and lactating sows exposed to auditory environmental enrichment exhibited lower ET compared to those that had no access to the stimulus (pregnant 33.36 °C vs. 34.32 °C and lactating 34.21 °C vs. 34.83 °C). No housing type effect was found on the reproductive performance parameter; however, piglets from sows submitted to auditory environmental enrichment, regardless of the type of housing during gestation, were heavier at weaning (6.32 kg vs. 5.57 kg). Collective or mixed housing does not affect sows’ reproductive performance; perhaps, auditory environmental enrichment reduced stress in the gestation and lactation phases and provided greater piglet weight gain at weaning.

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Influence of Increased Freedom of Movement on Welfare and Egg Laying Pattern of Hens Kept in Aviaries

Cited by 21 publications

References 42 publications

Investigation of the Plumage Condition of Non-Beak-Trimmed Rhode ISLAND-Type Pedigree Hens in Cages and Alternative Pens

Investigation of the Plumage Condition of Non-Beak-Trimmed Rhode ISLAND-Type Pedigree Hens in Cages and Alternative Pens

An Initial Study on the Use of Machine Learning and Radio Frequency Identification Data for Predicting Health Outcomes in Free-Range Laying Hens

Performance and Welfare of Sows Exposed to Auditory Environmental Enrichment in Mixed or Collective Housing Systems

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