Part 1 of this volume reviews advances in research on key aspects of poultry behaviour and welfare monitoring. Part 2 discusses particular welfare issues affecting broilers and layers such as housing and environmental enrichment as well as problems such as injurious pecking and bone health.
Chickens are by far the world’s most widely farmed animal, kept for both meat and egg production. They are at the centre of many debates regarding housing and production systems, causing significant interest in what lies behind chicken behaviour. This accessible book covers sensory biology, behavioural development, preferences and aversions, social behaviour, learning and cognition, behavioural issues in different systems and solutions for behavioural problems. Authored by an authority on chicken ethology, it brings together the fields of animal behaviour, neuroscience, psychology and epidemiology to provide a comprehensive understanding of chicken behaviour and help improve the lives of farmed chickens around the world.
This collection reviews the genetic and developmental factors that affect pig behaviour and assesses ways of optimising pig welfare at different stages of production, from breeding to slaughter.
This authoritative textbook provides an introduction and guide to poultry behavior and welfare. It describes the origin and biology of the various species of bird that are of agricultural importance, as well as giving a succinct overview of their key behavior patterns. There is careful discussion of the many factors that influence their welfare, and detailed consideration of the ways in which legislation and commercial interests interact in an attempt to satisfy the many needs involved. The final chapters discuss possible future developments within the subject. The book is in part an update of a previous work, Poultry Production Systems: Behaviour, Management and Welfare (CABI, 1992), completely rewritten and with much new material added.
Broiler Chickens is a short practical book of guidelines and advice to good welfare practice in broiler chicken farming. With contributions from world expert researchers in poultry welfare, this book distils academic research into applied advice on the farm for industry and farm workers. The content covered includes health and disease impacts with a One Health focus, housing for optimal health, broiler breeders, hatchery management, broiler slaughter practices, transport, animal welfare assessment measures and a discussion of welfare improvement measures on the farm. 5m Books
A global trend towards improving farm animal welfare has seen an increase in the use of alternative or cage-free housing systems, and several countries have implemented bans on caged egg production due to their barren nature. Individual states in the U.S. have also established cage-free regulations intending to improve hen welfare by providing more space and resources per hen than are possible in cages. Due to this legislative demand, along with pressure from corporate pledges to source only cage-free eggs within a short timeline, many egg producers are undergoing the costly transition to build, stock, and maintain cage-free production facilities. Hens housed in cage-free systems can move throughout their enclosures and can utilize resources like perches, litter areas, and designated nests. Unfortunately, the addition of these resources, along with increased freedom of movement for hens and interactions among conspecifics within the flock, have also had unintended consequences (including negative hen behaviors such as crowding/crushing one another and cannibalism, and hen behaviors that are undesirable to producers, like laying eggs outside of nest sites). Further, several space and resource guidelines are set on a per-hen basis and may not consider that certain hen behaviors require a varying amount of space, nor do they consider the potential influence of large portions of a flock behaving congruously (in both situations, the amount of space or resources allocated by guidelines may not be the actual amount that is used or needed by hens). As an additional consideration, many of hens' key behaviors are diurnal in nature and it is possible that synchronous flock movement to a certain resource at a certain time of day, coupled with management tactics used to curb undesired behaviors, could prevent hens from performing these behaviors based on their preferred temporal patterns. To better ensure that guidelines on cage-free husbandry and management practices actually improve hen welfare as intended, research should consider the influences of multiple factors on hen behavior. Therefore, the overarching℗ focus of this project was to examine how laying hens of different genetic strains perform dynamic and space-intensive behaviors in a multi-tiered aviary system. Behaviors chosen for examination were dust bathing and wing flapping, both of which have been deemed important by cage-free legislation. Commercial-style Natura60 aviaries were stocked with 4 genetic strains: Hy-Line Brown [HB], Bovan Brown [BB], DeKalb White [DW] and Hy-Line [W36]. In the first study, we found that white strains had higher rates of litter occupancy and more synchrony in dust bathing behavior compared to brown strains. White-feathered hens also had smaller interbird distances while performing a dust bathing bout, whereas hens of the brown strains had larger inter-bird distances and shortened the duration of dust bathing bouts in the presence of more hens on the litter or with less space between nearby hens. During initial placement in the aviaries, we saw a similar behavioral trend based on genetic strain: following a period of complete litter restriction, DW and W36 hens occupied litter in greater numbers and at a faster rate HB and BB hens. When doors to litter opened each day, hens not only gained access to litter but also to unfettered three-dimensional space. Hens of all 4 strains flapped their wings more in the first 85 minutes (11:35am-12:55pm) following doors' opening, suggesting their daily confinement within tiers may have influenced their motivation to wing flap once they had room to do so. While wing flapping, W36 hens required an average of 51.02 ℗ł 4.7 cm of vertical space; however, our hens were cage-reared and housed, and the manner in which they flapped may not be representative of hens with more muscle development and experience with wing flapping. The method we tested should be further utilized on dynamic behaviors on of hens from a variety of strains, ages, and backgrounds. Future work is needed to determine the space requirements of hens for particular resources rather than blanketed guidelines for space as a whole. Differences in social distancing, behavioral synchrony, and the time-of-day around specific resources need to be identified.
Many behaviors in poultry can be modified by genetic selection. Selection of laying hens for maximum egg production had the unfortunate side effect of increased rates of beak inflicted damage on other birds. Selective breeding has eliminated broodiness and has either increased or decreased other behaviors, such as hysteria, fearfulness, appetite in broilers, social dominance, ability and damage to other birds. Genetic selection can be used to reduce behaviors that cause welfare problems. However, it must be approached with caution to avoid unintended consequences that would be detrimental to welfare. A calm, docile bird that appears behaviorally calm, may take longer for its heart rate to return to normal after it is frightened. The use of group selection instead of single-bird selection can be effectively used to reduce undesirable behaviors such as feather pecking and to maintain high egg production. An entire group of birds is selected instead of selecting individuals.
What is animal welfare? Why has it proved so difficult to find a definition that everyone can agree on? This concise and accessible guide is for anyone who is interested in animals and who has wondered how we can assess their welfare scientifically. It defines animal welfare as 'health and animals having what they want', a definition that can be easily understood by scientists and non-scientists alike, expresses in simple words what underlies many existing definitions, and shows what evidence we need to collect to improve animal welfare in practice. Above all, it puts the animal's own point of view at the heart of an assessment of its welfare. But, can we really understand what animals want? A consistent theme running through the book is that not only is it possible to establish what animals want, but that this information is vital in helping us to make sense of the long and often confusing list of welfare measures that are now in use such as 'stress' and 'feel good hormones', expressive sounds and gestures, natural behaviour, cognitive bias, and stereotypies. Defining welfare as 'health and what animals want' allows us to distinguish between measures that are simply what an animal does when it is alert, aroused, or active and those measures that genuinely allow us to distinguish between situations the animals themselves see as positive or negative. Sentience (conscious feelings of pleasure, pain, and suffering) is for many people the essence of what is meant by welfare, but studying consciousness is notoriously difficult, particularly in non-human species. These difficulties are discussed in the context of our current - and as yet incomplete - knowledge of human and animal consciousness. Finally, the book highlights some key ideas in the relationship between animal welfare science and animal ethics and shows how closely the well-being of humans is linked to that of other animals. The Science of Animal Welfare is an ideal companion for undergraduate and graduate students taking courses in animal behaviour and welfare, as well as for professional researchers, practitioners and animal welfare consultants. At the same time, it is easily understandable to non-scientists and anyone without prior knowledge but with an interest in animals and the rapidly evolving science of animal welfare.
Completely updated and revised, and synthesizing the recent explosion in animal welfare literature, the sixth edition of this best-selling textbook continues to provide a thorough overview of behaviour and welfare of companion and farm animals, including fish. The introductory section has been completely revised, with all following chapters updated, redesigned and improved to reflect our changing understanding. Written by a world-leading expert and key opinion leader in animal behaviour and welfare, this text provides a highly accessible guide to the subject. It is an essential foundation for any veterinary, animal science, animal behaviour or welfare-focused undergraduate or graduate course.
The welfare of egg-producing poultry is a topic of great concern to the poultry industry and to researchers in applied animal behaviour. It is also subject to increased legislation. Issues such as battery cages, space requirements, access to daylight and ''free-range'' eggs have attracted public interest.
