The Significance of Dustbathing for the Well-Being of the Domestic Hen

Vestergaard, K.

doi:10.1007/978-3-0348-5353-8_9

Cited by 5 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…This was Downloaded by [McMaster University] at 01:00 28 December 2014 not a Type II error; with this sample size (n D 48 pens per treatment per strain), we can say with confidence that there cannot have been an effect larger than a 30% difference between the means. Chicks are thought to show preferences for dustbathing on, or pecking and scratching at, a particular substrate around 8 to 10 days of life (Sanotra, Vestergaard, Agger, & Lawson, 1995;Vestergaard, 1982b). In this experiment, chicks were kept on their original floor treatment for the first 14 days of life, giving them time to develop preferences for either the peat moss or the feathers of other birds as dustbathing substrates or forages.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Substrate Access Did Not Affect Early Feather-Pecking Behavior in Two Strains of Laying Hen Chicks

Dixon

Duncan

2010

Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science

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Feather pecking, commonly found in flocks of laying hens (Gallus gallus), is detrimental to bird welfare. Thought to cause this problem is the normal housing of layers without a floor substrate. Some evidence suggests that early substrate access decreases later feather pecking. However, there has been little research on the immediate effects of a change in substrate availability on bird welfare, although environmental modifications like this are often done when brooding and rearing laying hen chicks. To investigate this, the behavior of two strains of laying hen chicks was recorded for 4 weeks. The study kept the birds on either wire or peat moss for 14 days and then switched half the chicks to the other flooring. Early feather pecking was not significantly different for birds started on peat moss and switched to wire than for birds only on wire (p > .05). Because moving chicks from peat moss to wire did not cause additional welfare problems, the study recommends that chicks be kept on a substrate when young as feather-pecking levels are lower and immediate welfare is improved compared with birds kept only on wire.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in Substrate Access Did Not Affect Early Feather-Pecking Behavior in Two Strains of Laying Hen Chicks

Dixon

Duncan

2010

Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science

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“…Determining what counts as a behavioral "need" for any animal species is a complex problem and is thus highly debated (Dawkins, 1983;Friend, 1989) . Some authors argue that the necessary criteria for classifying a behavior as a need are the following: a) that all members of the species must perform said behavior, b) that deprivation of that behavior leads to stress, c) the behavior is generated internally and not by external environmental cues, d) that the lack of opportunity to perform a behavior leads to an accumulation of the intent to perform it (Vestergaard, 1982) , and e) that the animal attains reward from performing the behavior and hence is inclined to do so even when faced with obstacles Spruijt et al, 2001) .…”

Section: Review Of Stress Responses and Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

Welfare of zebra finches used in research

Yamahachi

Zai

Tachibana

et al. 2017

Preprint

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Over the past 50 years, songbirds have become a valuable model organism for scientists studying vocal communication from its behavioral, hormonal, neuronal, and genetic perspectives. Many advances in our understanding of vocal learning result from research using the zebra finch, a close-ended vocal learner. We review some of the manipulations used in zebra finch research, such as isolate housing, transient/irreversible impairment of hearing/vocal organs, implantation of small devices for chronic electrophysiology, head fixation for imaging, aversive song conditioning using sound playback, and mounting of miniature backpacks for behavioral monitoring. We highlight the use of these manipulations in scientific research, and estimate their impact on animal welfare, based on the literature and on data from our past and ongoing work. The assessment of harm-benefits tradeoffs is a legal prerequisite for animal research in Switzerland. We conclude that a diverse set of known stressors reliably lead to suppressed singing rate, and that by contraposition, increased singing rate may be a useful indicator of welfare. We hope that our study can contribute to answering some of the most burning questions about zebra finch welfare in research on vocal behaviors. Therefore, the interplay between corticosterone levels during development and long-term consequences of stress needs to be further studied. Skin temperatureA stressor can increase the core body temperature, provoking a decrease of the surface temperature. This phenomenon known as stress-induced hyperthermia could be utilized to measure stress. Indeed, infrared thermography has been used to determine the effect of stressful procedures in birds (Edgar et al., 2013;Herborn et al., 2015;Jerem et al., 2015) . Contrary to the stress snapshot of corticosterone, this non-invasive imaging method might provide longitudinal measurements of stress. Body weightBody weight can be used to assess body condition in birds, especially when multiple measurements are made over the course of a study (Brown, 1996;Dickens et al., 2009bDickens et al., , 2009a .

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“…The various behavior elements, including pecking, bill raking, ground scratching, vertical wingshaking, head rubbing, and side rubbing, then occur several times and are linked temporally into a nonrandom ow structure. A bout normally ends with the bird rising and vigorously shaking its body (Vestergaard, 1982b).…”

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confidence: 99%

Development of dustbathing behavior sequences in the domestic fowl: The significance of functional experience

Larsen¹,

Vestergaard²,

Hogan

2000

Dev. Psychobiol.

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The development of the sequential structure of dustbathing bouts was studied in domestic egg‐layer chicks from hatching until 23 days of age using a first order Markov chain model analysis. Chicks were reared either with access to sand (“sand chicks”) or on a wire floor (“wire chicks”). All chicks in both groups developed a basic structure of the elements pecking, bill raking, ground scratching, vertical wingshaking, head rubbing, and side rubbing. Nonetheless, there was more cohesion in the bouts of sand chicks than in those of wire chicks: wire chicks had more pauses in their bouts and performed more elements while standing; also, allopecking (feather‐pecking) and preening were incorporated into their bouts. We conclude that the basic structure of dustbathing bouts develops even in the absence of functional experience with feedback from sand. However, absence of normal feedback can lead to problems consisting of interruptions and feather‐directed behavior. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Dev Psychobiol 37: 5–12, 2000

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The Significance of Dustbathing for the Well-Being of the Domestic Hen

Cited by 5 publications

References 14 publications

Changes in Substrate Access Did Not Affect Early Feather-Pecking Behavior in Two Strains of Laying Hen Chicks

Changes in Substrate Access Did Not Affect Early Feather-Pecking Behavior in Two Strains of Laying Hen Chicks

Welfare of zebra finches used in research

Development of dustbathing behavior sequences in the domestic fowl: The significance of functional experience

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