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The effects of furnished cages on the behaviour of laying hens in the post-stress adaptation period.

Year 2017, , 76 - 83, 29.12.2017
https://doi.org/10.30704/http-www-jivs-net.363189

Abstract

The aim of the study is to investigate whether housing laying hens in furnished cages in post-stress adaptation period causes any changes in behaviors or not.  The aim of the study is to investigate whether housing laying hens in furnished cages in post-stress adaptation period causes any changes in behaviors or not.  Due to the affects of animal welfare on production performance, the relationship between behavioral changes and egg production has also been studied. In the present study, 22 weeks old, 32 laying hens were used. The hens were subjected to transport. The transport procedure, including loading and unloading took 8 hours. Just after the transportation, birds were randomly divided into two groups as furnished and conventional cages; each consists of two subgroups with 8 hens.  It was ensured that the hens in subgroups were unfamiliar with each other to induce social stress.  On the top of each cage, a camera was fixed and continuous recording was done for 24 hours for 6 days. The behavior of animals was scored by time sampling method.  Eating, drinking, resting, preening, wing flapping, tail-wagging, stretching, ground-scratching, gentle pecking, stereotyped and aggressive pecking behaviors were scored.  In addition, the locations of the hens were also determined in furnished cages.  Frequency of eating, drinking and ground-scratching behaviours significantly increased, but tail-wagging behaviour tended to increase in hens housed in furnished cages. On the other hand, resting, stretching and aggressive pecking behaviours significantly decreased in hens housed in furnished cages.  In addition, the use of perch and nest rate in furnished cages significantly increased from the second day. In the conclusion, cage furnishing improves some comfort behaviour such as ground-scratching and tail wagging and decreasing aggressive pecking in laying hens. Therefore, it would be beneficial to keep stress exposed hens in furnished cages in the post-stress adaptation period.

References

  • Abrahamsson, P., & Tauson, R. (1997). Effects of group size on performance, health and birds’ use of facilities in furnished cages for laying hens. Acta Agriculturæ Scandinavica, Section A -Animal Science, 47, 254-260.
  • Altan, O., Seremet, C., & Bayraktar, H. (2013). The effects of early environmental enrichment on performance, fear and physiological responses to acute stress of broiler. Archiv Fur Geflugelkunde, 77(1), 23-28.
  • Appleby, M. C., Walker, A. W., Nicol, C. J., Lindberg, A. C., Freire, R., Hughes, B.O., & Elson, H. A. (2002). Development of furnished cages for laying hens, British Poultry Science, 43(4), 489-500.
  • Broom, D. M., & Fraser, A. F. (2010). Domestic Animal Behaviour and Welfare, 5th Ed. London, UK: Cab International.
  • Chang, J. B., Lusk, J. L., & Norwood, F. B. (2010). The price of happy hens: A hedonic analysis of retail egg prices. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 35(3) 406-423.
  • Cheng, H. W, and Fahey A. (2009). Effects of group size and repeated social disruption on the serotonergic and dopaminergic systems in two genetic lines of White Leghorn laying hens. Poultry science, 88, 2018-2025.
  • Daghir, N. J. (2008). Poultry production in hot climates. (2nd Ed.). Cab International, Cambridge. USA.
  • Dawkins, M. S. (1999). The role of behaviour in the assessment of poultry welfare. World's poultry science journal, 55(03), 295-303.
  • Duncan I. J. H. (1998). Behavior and Behavioral Needs. Poultry Science 77:1766-1772.
  • Duncan I. J. H. 1980. The Ethogram of the Domesticated Hen. In Moss R ed. The laying hen and its environment. The Hague; Martinus Nijhoff Publisher.
  • El-Lethey H., Aerni V., Jungi T.W., Wechsler B. 2000. Stress and feather pecking in laying hens in relation to housing conditions. Br Poult Sci. 41(1):22-28.
  • Gamba, J. P., Rodrigues, M. M., Garcia Neto, M., Perri, S. H. V., Faria Júnior, M. D. A., & Pinto, M. F. (2015). The Strategic Application of Electrolyte Balance to Minimize Heat Stress in Broilers. Revista Brasileira de Ciência Avícola, 17(2), 237-245.
  • Harvey, S., Klandorf, H., & Pinchasov, Y. (1983). Visual and metabolic stimuli cause adrenocortical suppression in fasted chickens during refeeding. Neuroendocrinology, 37(1), 59-63. Hunter, R. R., Mitchell, M. A., & Carlisle, A. J. (1999). Wetting of broilers during cold weather transport: a major source of physiological stress?. British Poultry Science, 40(S1), 48-49.
  • Huber-Eicher B, Wechsler B. 1998. The effect of quality and availability of foraging materials on feather pecking in laying hen chicks. Anim Behav. 55(4):861-873.
  • Jones, R. B. (1996). Fear and adaptability in poultry: insights, implications and imperatives. World's Poultry Science Journal, 52(02), 131-174.
  • Janczak A. M. Torjesen P. Palme R. Bakken M. 2007. Effects of stress in hens on the behaviour of their offspring. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 107:66–77.
  • Lara, L. J., & Rostagno, M. H. (2013). Impact of heat stress on poultry production. Animals, 3(2), 356-369
  • Li, X., Chen, D., Li, J., & Bao, J. (2016). Effects of Furnished Cage Type on Behavior and Welfare of Laying Hens. Asian-Australasian journal of animal sciences, 29(6), 887-894.
  • Lu, Y. (2013). Consumer preference for eggs from enhanced animal welfare production system: a stated choice analysis (Doctoral dissertation).
  • Mashaly, M. M., Hendricks, G. L., Kalama, M. A., Gehad, A. E., Abbas, A. O., & Patterson, P. H. (2004). Effect of heat stress on production parameters and immune responses of commercial laying hens. Poultry Science, 83(6), 889-894.
  • Mench, J., 1998. Why it is important to understand animal behavior. ILAR J. 39, 20-26.
  • Meng, F., Chen D., Li X., Li J., Bao J., (2017) The effect of large or small furnished cages on behaviors and tibia bone of laying hens. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 17, 69-73
  • Mirfendereski E. Lahanian R. (2015). Effects of dietary organic chromium and vitamin C supplementation on performance, immune responses, blood metabolites, and stress status of laying hens subjected to high stocking density. Poultry Science, 94 281 288.
  • Mitchell MA, Kettlewell PJ. 2004. Transport of chicken, pullets and spent hens. In: Perry GC (ed.), Welfare of the laying hen (poultry science symposium series), pp. 361–373. CABI Publishing, Massachusetts, USA.
  • Nazar, F. N., & Marin, R. H. (2011). Effect of stress and early environmental enrichment on cellular immunity of juvenile Japanese quail. Revista Argentina de Producción Animal, 31(1), 63-69.
  • Newberry, R. C. 2004. Cannibalism. Pages 239–258 in Welfare of the Laying Hen. G. C. Perry, ed., CABI Publishing, Wallingford, UK.
  • Pohle, K., & Cheng, H. W. (2009). Comparative effects of furnished and battery cages on egg production and physiological parameters in White Leghorn hens. Poultry science, 88(10), 2042-2051.
  • Rodenburg, T. B., Tuyttens, F. A., Sonck, B., De Reu, K., Herman, L. & Zoons, J. (2005). Welfare, health, and hygiene of laying hens housed. in furnished cages and in alternative housing systems. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. 8(3):211-226.
  • Rönchen, S., Scholz, B., Hamann, H., & Distl, O. (2010). Use of functional areas, perch acceptance and selected behavioural traits in three different layer strains kept in furnished cages, small group systems and modified small group systems with elevated perches. Archiv für Geflügelkunde, 74(4), 256-264.
  • Rosales, A. G. (1994). Managing stress in broiler breeders: a review. The Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 3(2), 199-207.
  • Scanes C., G. (2016). Biology of stress in poultry with emphasis on glucocorticoids and the heterophil to lymphocyte ratio. Poultry Science, 95(9): 2208-2215. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3382/ps/pew137.
  • Shimmura T., Hirahara S., Azuma T., Suzuki T., Eguchi Y., Uetake K. & Tanaka T. 2010. Multi-factorial investigation of various housing systems for laying hens. British Poultry Science. 51, 1: 31-42.
  • Shimmura, S, Eguchi, Y., Uetake and Tanaka, T 2007. Behavior, performance and physical condition of layinghens in conventional and small furnished cages. Animal Science Journal. 78, 323-329.
  • Shimmura, T., Azuma, T., Eguchi, Y., Uetake, K., Tanaka, T., 2009. Effects of separation of resources on behavior, physical condition and production of laying hens in furnished cages. Br. Poult. Sci. 50, 39-46.
  • Valkonen E, Venäläinen E, Rossow L, Valaja J. 2008. Effects of dietary energy content on the performance of laying hens in furnished and conventional cages. Poult Sci.;87(5):844-52. doi: 10.3382/ps.2007-00237.
  • Valkonen, E. (2010) Egg production in furnished cages. PhD thesis, MTT Agrifood Research Finland . MTT Science, no. 12. MTT Agrifood Research Finland

The effects of furnished cages on the behaviour of laying hens in the post-stress adaptation period.

Year 2017, , 76 - 83, 29.12.2017
https://doi.org/10.30704/http-www-jivs-net.363189

Abstract

The aim of the study is to
investigate whether housing laying hens in furnished cages in post-stress
adaptation period causes any changes in behaviors or not.  Due to the affects of animal welfare on
production performance, the relationship between behavioral changes and egg
production has also been studied. In the present study, 22 weeks old, 32 laying
hens were used. The hens were subjected to transport. The transport procedure,
including loading and unloading took 8 hours. Just after the transportation,
birds were randomly divided into two groups as furnished and conventional
cages; each consists of two subgroups with 8 hens. 
It was ensured that the hens in subgroups were unfamiliar with each other to induce social stress.  On the top of
each cage, a camera was fixed and continuous recording was done for 24 hours
for 6 days. The behavior of animals was scored by time sampling method.  Eating, drinking, resting, preening, wing
flapping, tail-wagging, stretching, ground-scratching, gentle pecking,
stereotyped and aggressive pecking behaviors were scored.  In addition, the locations of the hens were
also determined in furnished cages.  Frequency
of eating, drinking and ground-scratching behaviours significantly increased,
but tail-wagging behaviour tended to increase in hens housed in furnished
cages. On the other hand, resting, stretching and aggressive pecking behaviours
significantly decreased in hens housed in furnished cages.  In addition, the use of perch and nest rate in
furnished cages significantly increased from the second day. In the conclusion,
cage furnishing improves some comfort behaviour such as ground-scratching and
tail wagging and decreasing aggressive pecking in laying hens. Therefore, it
would be beneficial to keep stress exposed hens in furnished cages in the
post-stress adaptation period.

References

  • Abrahamsson, P., & Tauson, R. (1997). Effects of group size on performance, health and birds’ use of facilities in furnished cages for laying hens. Acta Agriculturæ Scandinavica, Section A -Animal Science, 47, 254-260.
  • Altan, O., Seremet, C., & Bayraktar, H. (2013). The effects of early environmental enrichment on performance, fear and physiological responses to acute stress of broiler. Archiv Fur Geflugelkunde, 77(1), 23-28.
  • Appleby, M. C., Walker, A. W., Nicol, C. J., Lindberg, A. C., Freire, R., Hughes, B.O., & Elson, H. A. (2002). Development of furnished cages for laying hens, British Poultry Science, 43(4), 489-500.
  • Broom, D. M., & Fraser, A. F. (2010). Domestic Animal Behaviour and Welfare, 5th Ed. London, UK: Cab International.
  • Chang, J. B., Lusk, J. L., & Norwood, F. B. (2010). The price of happy hens: A hedonic analysis of retail egg prices. Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, 35(3) 406-423.
  • Cheng, H. W, and Fahey A. (2009). Effects of group size and repeated social disruption on the serotonergic and dopaminergic systems in two genetic lines of White Leghorn laying hens. Poultry science, 88, 2018-2025.
  • Daghir, N. J. (2008). Poultry production in hot climates. (2nd Ed.). Cab International, Cambridge. USA.
  • Dawkins, M. S. (1999). The role of behaviour in the assessment of poultry welfare. World's poultry science journal, 55(03), 295-303.
  • Duncan I. J. H. (1998). Behavior and Behavioral Needs. Poultry Science 77:1766-1772.
  • Duncan I. J. H. 1980. The Ethogram of the Domesticated Hen. In Moss R ed. The laying hen and its environment. The Hague; Martinus Nijhoff Publisher.
  • El-Lethey H., Aerni V., Jungi T.W., Wechsler B. 2000. Stress and feather pecking in laying hens in relation to housing conditions. Br Poult Sci. 41(1):22-28.
  • Gamba, J. P., Rodrigues, M. M., Garcia Neto, M., Perri, S. H. V., Faria Júnior, M. D. A., & Pinto, M. F. (2015). The Strategic Application of Electrolyte Balance to Minimize Heat Stress in Broilers. Revista Brasileira de Ciência Avícola, 17(2), 237-245.
  • Harvey, S., Klandorf, H., & Pinchasov, Y. (1983). Visual and metabolic stimuli cause adrenocortical suppression in fasted chickens during refeeding. Neuroendocrinology, 37(1), 59-63. Hunter, R. R., Mitchell, M. A., & Carlisle, A. J. (1999). Wetting of broilers during cold weather transport: a major source of physiological stress?. British Poultry Science, 40(S1), 48-49.
  • Huber-Eicher B, Wechsler B. 1998. The effect of quality and availability of foraging materials on feather pecking in laying hen chicks. Anim Behav. 55(4):861-873.
  • Jones, R. B. (1996). Fear and adaptability in poultry: insights, implications and imperatives. World's Poultry Science Journal, 52(02), 131-174.
  • Janczak A. M. Torjesen P. Palme R. Bakken M. 2007. Effects of stress in hens on the behaviour of their offspring. Appl. Anim. Behav. Sci. 107:66–77.
  • Lara, L. J., & Rostagno, M. H. (2013). Impact of heat stress on poultry production. Animals, 3(2), 356-369
  • Li, X., Chen, D., Li, J., & Bao, J. (2016). Effects of Furnished Cage Type on Behavior and Welfare of Laying Hens. Asian-Australasian journal of animal sciences, 29(6), 887-894.
  • Lu, Y. (2013). Consumer preference for eggs from enhanced animal welfare production system: a stated choice analysis (Doctoral dissertation).
  • Mashaly, M. M., Hendricks, G. L., Kalama, M. A., Gehad, A. E., Abbas, A. O., & Patterson, P. H. (2004). Effect of heat stress on production parameters and immune responses of commercial laying hens. Poultry Science, 83(6), 889-894.
  • Mench, J., 1998. Why it is important to understand animal behavior. ILAR J. 39, 20-26.
  • Meng, F., Chen D., Li X., Li J., Bao J., (2017) The effect of large or small furnished cages on behaviors and tibia bone of laying hens. Journal of Veterinary Behavior 17, 69-73
  • Mirfendereski E. Lahanian R. (2015). Effects of dietary organic chromium and vitamin C supplementation on performance, immune responses, blood metabolites, and stress status of laying hens subjected to high stocking density. Poultry Science, 94 281 288.
  • Mitchell MA, Kettlewell PJ. 2004. Transport of chicken, pullets and spent hens. In: Perry GC (ed.), Welfare of the laying hen (poultry science symposium series), pp. 361–373. CABI Publishing, Massachusetts, USA.
  • Nazar, F. N., & Marin, R. H. (2011). Effect of stress and early environmental enrichment on cellular immunity of juvenile Japanese quail. Revista Argentina de Producción Animal, 31(1), 63-69.
  • Newberry, R. C. 2004. Cannibalism. Pages 239–258 in Welfare of the Laying Hen. G. C. Perry, ed., CABI Publishing, Wallingford, UK.
  • Pohle, K., & Cheng, H. W. (2009). Comparative effects of furnished and battery cages on egg production and physiological parameters in White Leghorn hens. Poultry science, 88(10), 2042-2051.
  • Rodenburg, T. B., Tuyttens, F. A., Sonck, B., De Reu, K., Herman, L. & Zoons, J. (2005). Welfare, health, and hygiene of laying hens housed. in furnished cages and in alternative housing systems. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science. 8(3):211-226.
  • Rönchen, S., Scholz, B., Hamann, H., & Distl, O. (2010). Use of functional areas, perch acceptance and selected behavioural traits in three different layer strains kept in furnished cages, small group systems and modified small group systems with elevated perches. Archiv für Geflügelkunde, 74(4), 256-264.
  • Rosales, A. G. (1994). Managing stress in broiler breeders: a review. The Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 3(2), 199-207.
  • Scanes C., G. (2016). Biology of stress in poultry with emphasis on glucocorticoids and the heterophil to lymphocyte ratio. Poultry Science, 95(9): 2208-2215. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3382/ps/pew137.
  • Shimmura T., Hirahara S., Azuma T., Suzuki T., Eguchi Y., Uetake K. & Tanaka T. 2010. Multi-factorial investigation of various housing systems for laying hens. British Poultry Science. 51, 1: 31-42.
  • Shimmura, S, Eguchi, Y., Uetake and Tanaka, T 2007. Behavior, performance and physical condition of layinghens in conventional and small furnished cages. Animal Science Journal. 78, 323-329.
  • Shimmura, T., Azuma, T., Eguchi, Y., Uetake, K., Tanaka, T., 2009. Effects of separation of resources on behavior, physical condition and production of laying hens in furnished cages. Br. Poult. Sci. 50, 39-46.
  • Valkonen E, Venäläinen E, Rossow L, Valaja J. 2008. Effects of dietary energy content on the performance of laying hens in furnished and conventional cages. Poult Sci.;87(5):844-52. doi: 10.3382/ps.2007-00237.
  • Valkonen, E. (2010) Egg production in furnished cages. PhD thesis, MTT Agrifood Research Finland . MTT Science, no. 12. MTT Agrifood Research Finland
There are 36 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Subjects Veterinary Surgery
Journal Section Research Articles
Authors

Erdal Matur

Elif Ergül Ekiz

İbrahim Akyazı

Evren Eraslan

Ezgi Ergen

Mert Erek

Bilge Acar Bolat

Mukaddes Özcan

Publication Date December 29, 2017
Published in Issue Year 2017

Cite

APA Matur, E., Ekiz, E. E., Akyazı, İ., Eraslan, E., et al. (2017). The effects of furnished cages on the behaviour of laying hens in the post-stress adaptation period. Journal of Istanbul Veterinary Sciences, 1(3), 76-83. https://doi.org/10.30704/http-www-jivs-net.363189

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