The Effect of Minor Nutrient Mineral Elements in the Diet of Chickens on Feather Pulling and Cannibalism

Willimon, Charles P.; Morgan, C. L.

doi:10.3382/ps.0320309

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…No significant effects were found for: 'use of broody/mother hens' (2x), 'provision of dustbath' (1x), 'less feed phases' (2x), all during rearing, and the 'use of pullets without FP in rearing' (1x), the 'presence of cockerels' (1x) during laying, as well as 'high amounts of certain minerals' during rearing (1x) and laying (1x) and 'animal protein' during rearing 1xand laying (2x). The investigated minerals were Aluminium, Barium, Chromium, Copper, Lead, Molybdenum, Nickel, Silver, Tin, Titanium and Zirconium (Willimon and Morgan, 1953).…”

Section: Table 3 Near Herementioning

confidence: 99%

“…2014b, de Jong et al 2013b, El-Lethey et al 2000, El-Lethey et al 2001, Huber-Eicher and Sebö 2001b, Johnsen et al 1998(for l), Mathlouthi at al. 2011 (also for l), Zeltner et al 2000 de Kjaer and Vestergaard 1999Kjaer and Sørensen 2002, Keppler 2008 Mohammed et al 2010 Kjaer and Vestergaard 1999 Nests Nests without lighting , Zimmerman et al 2006 Feed and water , Zimmerman et al 2006 Feeding ad libitum Mathlouthi et al 2011 Low energy and non-starch polysaccharide content in feed van der Lee et al 2001, ↑van Krimpen et al 2009van Krimpen et al 2008 High amounts of certain minerals Willimon andMorgan 1953 Willimon andMorgan 1953 High amounts of certain essential amino acids or protein van , Dixon and Nicol 2008Elwinger et al 2002, Elwinger et al 2008Kjaer and Sørensen 2002, van Krimpen et al 2015 Animal protein Keppler et al 2001Elwinger et al 2008, Keppler et al 2001 Roughage feeding Kalmendal andWall 2012, Steenfeldt et al 2007…”

Section: Low Stocking Densitymentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are practice recommendations for the prevention of feather pecking in laying hens in non-cage systems in line with the results of experimental and epidemiological studies?

Jung

Knierim

2018

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Feather pecking (FP) in laying hens is an important animal welfare problem in practice, despite extensive research and increasing sources of advice for farmers. We aimed to give an overview over results from experimental and epidemiological studies. We included noncage systems, covering the rearing and laying phase. The investigated factors were categorised into those with either good, contentious or no evidence regarding preventive effects on FP. Moreover, we wanted to know to what extent recommendations for farmers are based on this scientific evidence. We extracted 62 potential preventive factors from 88 experimental and 21 epidemiological studies. 17 factors during rearing, and 32 factors during the laying phase significantly affected the risk to develop FP or plumage damage (PD). Factors were counted as significant if other studies found no or at most one opposite result. Seven factors during rearing and 16 factors during laying were confirmed by more than one study, with no or at most one opposite result. Provision of dry litter on the floor and sufficiently high perches during rearing and laying or a high use of the free range area during the laying phase were among these influencing factors. In the reviewed 15 practice recommendations, almost all of these factors have been taken up, although no recommendation comprises all factors and most miss more than the half of them. This leaves ample room for improvement of the recommendations. On the other hand, they altogether recommend 15 contentious as well as eight non-significant or 12 not yet investigated factors for which further scientific investigation is necessary. Keywords: Laying hens; Feather pecking; Plumage damage; Recommendations 'damaging feather pecking' or 'plumage damage' were included. In addition, reference lists of retrieved papers were searched for further studies. Recommendations were sought using the internet search engine 'Google' with the keywords 'laying hens' and 'feather pecking' which were used in combination with 'recommendations', 'management guidelines' or 'references'. Also, the German keywords 'Federpicken' and 'Legehennenhaltung' were applied in combination with 'Empfehlungen', 'Prävention', 'Managementempfehlungen', or 'Haltungsempfehlungen'. Selection criteria for the recommendations were that they must be freely available, that they covered rearing, placement or the laying period and that they are related to non-cage systems.

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Section: Table 3 Near Herementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Low Stocking Densitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Are practice recommendations for the prevention of feather pecking in laying hens in non-cage systems in line with the results of experimental and epidemiological studies?

Jung

Knierim

2018

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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“…Today’s egg-laying hens face a multitude of welfare challenges, one of the most prominent being that of feather pecking (FP), which is experienced across all types of modern housing systems [1,2,3]. FP is a behaviour where hens peck, pull [4], or pluck at [5], and sometimes eat the feathers of their conspecifics [6,7], causing feather damage (FD), including feather loss, typically on the back/rump, vent, and tail area [8,9,10]. In addition to increased risk of abrasion and infection due to exposed areas of skin, loss of feather cover results in difficulty maintaining body temperature [11], and body balance [12], and can lead to mortality due to cannibalism of denuded areas [8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An Investigation of Associations Between Management and Feather Damage in Canadian Laying Hens Housed in Furnished Cages

Decina

Berke

Staaveren

et al. 2019

Animals

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Feather pecking is a continuous welfare challenge in the housing of egg-laying hens. Canada is currently making the transition from conventional cages to alternative housing systems. However, feather damage (FD) among laying hens due to feather pecking remains a welfare concern. An explorative approach was taken to assess bird, housing, and management associations with FD in Canadian laying hens housed in alternative systems. A questionnaire focused on housing and management practices was administered to 122 laying farms across Canada in autumn of 2017 (response rate of 52.5%), yielding information on a subset of 26 flocks housed in furnished cages. Additionally, a three-point feather cover scoring system was developed to estimate the prevalence of FD. Farmers assessed FD by sampling 50 birds per flock. Linear regression modeling was applied to explain FD as a function of 6 variables (out of an available 54). Of the 6 modeled variables, “increased age”, “brown feather colour”, “midnight feeding”, and “no scratch area” were associated with higher levels of FD at farm level (R2 = 0.77). The results indicated that FD resulting from feather pecking is a multifactorial problem, and supported existing evidence that FD increases as birds age. These results also suggested that “feather colour”, “midnight feeding”, and “access to (or lack of) a scratch area or additional substrate” play a role in FD prevalence in furnished cages.

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“…For broiler production debeaking at 1 day of age is recommended by Londsale (1957). Addition of minor nutrient mineral elements to the ration did not produce any consistent effect on feather picking and cannibalism under experimental conditions * Generic name-Original synthesis of the Research Laboratorium Dr. C. Janssen, Beerse (Belgium (Willimon and Morgan, 1953). Neal (1956) reported that DL-methionine was effective in controlling cannibalism in laying hens, but Creek and Dendy (1957) claimed there was no evidence in their investigations that methionine counteracted cannibalistic tendencies.…”

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confidence: 99%

Treatment and Prophylaxis of Cannibalism in Poultry with Haloanisone-R 2028

Marsboon

G²

1962

Poultry Science

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The Effect of Minor Nutrient Mineral Elements in the Diet of Chickens on Feather Pulling and Cannibalism

Cited by 6 publications

References 6 publications

Are practice recommendations for the prevention of feather pecking in laying hens in non-cage systems in line with the results of experimental and epidemiological studies?

Are practice recommendations for the prevention of feather pecking in laying hens in non-cage systems in line with the results of experimental and epidemiological studies?

An Investigation of Associations Between Management and Feather Damage in Canadian Laying Hens Housed in Furnished Cages

Treatment and Prophylaxis of Cannibalism in Poultry with Haloanisone-R 2028

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