Predicting feather damage in laying hens during the laying period. Is it the past or is it the present?

Haas, E.N. de; Bolhuis, J.E.; Jong, I.C. de; Kemp, B.; Janczak, Andrew M.; Rodenburg, T.B.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2014.08.009

Cited by 81 publications

(102 citation statements)

References 47 publications

(80 reference statements)

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“…Some studies have found that plumage condition during lay is associated with plumage condition during rear (Bestman et al, 2009;Drake et al, 2010;Gilani et al, 2013, de Haas et al, 2014. We did not find a correlation between the peak of lay and the end of lay in flocks defined as having a poor plumage condition, which is most likely due to the lack of flocks at 32 weeks of age assessed as having a poor plumage condition.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 48%

Feather eating and its associations with plumage damage and feathers on the floor in commercial farms of laying hens

Riber

Hinrichsen

2016

Animal

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Feather eating has been associated with feather pecking, which continues to pose economic and welfare problems in egg production. Knowledge on feather eating is limited and studies of feather eating in commercial flocks of laying hens have not been performed previously. Therefore, the main objective was to investigate feather eating and its association with plumage damage and floor feather characteristics in commercial flocks of layers in barn and organic production systems. The study was performed in 13 flocks of barn layers and 17 flocks of organic layers. Each flock was visited at around 32 and 62 weeks of age. During both visits, the plumage condition was assessed and the density of floor feathers recorded. In week 62, droppings and floor feathers were collected. Droppings were examined for presence of feather content, whereas length, downiness and pecking damage were recorded for each floor feather. In week 62, a higher prevalence of hens with poor plumage condition was found in barn (22.2%) compared with organic production systems (7.4%; P < 0.001), but the prevalence of droppings with feather content did not differ between the two production systems (8.5% in barn v. 4.3% in organic; P = 0.99). Our hypothesis about a positive correlation between feather eating and plumage damage was not supported as no correlation was found between the prevalence of poor plumage condition and the prevalence of droppings with feather content. However, the prevalence of pecking damaged floor feathers was positively correlated both with prevalence of droppings with feather content ( P < 0.05) and poor plumage condition ( P < 0.01), indicating a possible association between feather eating and feather pecking. In conclusion, it was confirmed that feather eating occurs on-farm, but feather eating was only found to be positively correlated to the number of floor feathers with pecking damage and not as expected to the prevalence of plumage damage. More research is needed into the sources from where feathers are selected for ingestion, that is, whether they are picked from the floor litter, plucked directly from other hens or dislodged during preening of own feathers.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 48%

Feather eating and its associations with plumage damage and feathers on the floor in commercial farms of laying hens

Riber

Hinrichsen

2016

Animal

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“…Similarly, plumage damage increased with age. De Haas et al (2014b) also investigated the temporal relationship between feather-eating and plumage damage and found that flocks with severe plumage damage at 40 weeks of age tended to eat feathers more often at 15 weeks of age, compared with flocks with no severe plumage damage at 40 weeks of age. In the present experiment, feather-eating appeared to precede plumage damage and may have acted as a predictor, although since there was a lack of variability between pens this could not be fully explored.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The association between plumage damage and feather-eating in free-range laying hens

Hartcher

Hemsworth

Wilkinson

et al. 2016

Animal

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Severe feather-pecking (SFP) persists as a highly prevalent and detrimental behavioural problem in laying hens (Gallus gallus domesticus) worldwide. The present experiment investigated the association between feather-eating and plumage damage, a consequence of SFP, in groups of free-range, ISA Brown laying hens. Single feathers were placed on the floor of the home pens. Feathers were sourced from seven different birds. A total of 50 birds in six pens with extensive plumage damage were compared with birds in six control pens with little plumage damage at 41 to 43 weeks of age ( n = 12 pens, 600 hens). Birds in pens with extensive plumage damage ingested more feathers ( F = 8.1, DF = 1, 8, P = 0.02), and also showed shorter latencies to peck at ( χ 2 = 54.5, DF = 1, P < 0.001), and ingest feathers ( χ 2 = 55.6, DF = 1, P < 0.001). Birds ingested feathers from a bird in the free-range facility, in which the testing took place, more quickly than from a bird housed in a separate cage facility ( χ 2 = 39.0, DF = 6, P < 0.001). A second experiment investigated the predictive relationship between feather-eating and plumage damage. Feathers were presented to 16 pens of 50 pullets prior to the development of plumage damage, at 15 weeks of age, and then to the same hens after plumage damage had become prominent, at 40 weeks of age. Birds had a higher probability of ingesting feathers ( F = 142.0, DF = 1, 231, P < 0.001), pecked feathers more times ( F = 11.24, DF = 1, 239, P < 0.001), and also pecked ( χ 2 = 127.3, DF = 1, P < 0.001) and ingested ( χ 2 = 189.3, DF = 1, P < 0.001) the feathers more quickly at 40 than 15 weeks of age. There was a trend for an interaction, where birds pecked feathers from the rump more times than feathers from the back at 40 weeks of age ( F = 3.46, DF = 1, 237, P = 0.06). However, a lack of variability in plumage damage between pens in this experiment precluded investigation of the predictive relationship. The results from the present study confirm the association between feather-eating and plumage damage, and suggest that birds may prefer feathers from particular body areas and from particular hens. Future experiments should focus on elucidating whether feather-eating may act as a predictor of SFP.

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“…The causes of and preventative measures for feather pecking and cannibalism are very complicated and multi-factorial elements . Some of the predisposing factors are overcrowding, excessive light and temperature, insufficient or improperly placed feeders or drinking space, nutritional imbalances including mineral deficiencies, feeding of only pelleted or concentrated feed, feeding high-energy diets heavy in corn or low in fibre, and injuries (Green et al, 2000;Nicol et al, 2003Nicol et al, , 2013Sedlačková et al, 2004;De Haas et al, 2014). Moreover, the high prevalence of these behaviours and feather damage within flocks mainly depends upon whether or not beak trimming is applied (McAdie and Keeling, 2000).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of age at first access to range area on pecking behaviour and plumage quality of free-range layer chickens

2015

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Abstract. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of age on pecking behaviour and plumage quality of free-range laying hens during first access to range. Six hundred 16-week-old layer pullets obtained from a commercial company were housed in a experimental free-range house. The experimental house consisted of a slat-and-litter floor with range area and was divided into three similar pens. The pullets were randomly assigned to a control and two experimental groups according to age at first access to range area. The birds were allowed into the range area for the first time at 18, 20 and 22 weeks of age in the groups of treatment I, treatment II and control, respectively. Pecking behaviour and plumage quality of the birds were measured for 8-week intervals from 24 to 48 weeks of age. Total feather damage significantly increased with age in all groups (P < 0.040, P < 0.006, P < 0.001). Compared to the control group, birds allowed into the range area earlier had less feather damage. The feather score of the tail body region in all groups was significantly greater (more damage) than in the others (P < 0.001). There were no significant differences for the total pecking behaviour of the birds in the groups at 24, 32, 40 and 48 weeks of age. Incidents of gentle feather pecking in every period were more frequent, while aggressive pecking was less frequent (P < 0.026, P < 0.007, P < 0.001). It can be said that access to range area as early as possible at the beginning of the laying period may be useful to reduce the negative effect of feather pecking in free-range layer chickens.

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Predicting feather damage in laying hens during the laying period. Is it the past or is it the present?

Cited by 81 publications

References 47 publications

Feather eating and its associations with plumage damage and feathers on the floor in commercial farms of laying hens

Feather eating and its associations with plumage damage and feathers on the floor in commercial farms of laying hens

The association between plumage damage and feather-eating in free-range laying hens

Effects of age at first access to range area on pecking behaviour and plumage quality of free-range layer chickens

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