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Effects of a perch, dust bath and nest box in furnished cages on the welfare of laying hens

Effects of a perch, dust bath and nest box in furnished cages on the welfare of laying hens. John Barnett 1 co-authors: G. Cronin 1 , R. Tauson 2 , J. Downing 3 , V. Janardhana 4 , J. Lowenthal 4 and K. Butler 5

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Effects of a perch, dust bath and nest box in furnished cages on the welfare of laying hens

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  1. Effects of a perch, dust bath and nest box in furnished cages on the welfare of laying hens John Barnett1 co-authors: G. Cronin1, R. Tauson2, J. Downing3, V. Janardhana4, J. Lowenthal4 and K. Butler5 1Animal Welfare Science Centre, 2Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 3University of Sydney, 4CSIRO Livestock Industries, 5Victorian Department of Primary Industries

  2. Background: • Community concern on conventional cages • Number of replacement options: • barn • aviary • free range • furnished cages • Provide items that are considered important for hens: • litter, nest box, perch • Are welfare assumptions of alternative systems being met?

  3. Housing Options: Barn Aviary/Perchery Free Range Furnished Cage

  4. Conventional cages to be replaced with furnished cages in EU in 2012 • PIMC (Australia) recommendations in March 2000 • included R&D on furnished cages and review of Code of Practice for Welfare: Poultry Background continued: EU and Australian recommendations (2002)

  5. Objective: To assist answering the question: • Are welfare assumptions of alternative systems being met? • To determine the effects of the contribution of items of furniture (perch, dust bath and nest box) on the welfare of hens

  6. Experiment: • Victorsson cage (Sweden) single cage = 750 cm2/hen for 8 hens + nest box & dust bath • Factorial experiment on furnished cages • 3 (nest box) x 3 (dust bath) x 2 (perch) • Additional external control treatments - NO FURNITURE • SPACEALLOWANCE (single vs. double 8 bird cages) • GROUP SIZE (8 vs. 16 hens in double cages) • single cage = 750 cm2/hen; double cage = 1500 cm2/hen Dust bath Nest box Perch

  7. Dust-bath treatments: 3 Treatment Conditions for the Main Effect of Dust-bath

  8. Measurements: 2 sampling periods of 8 weeks each, from 29 and 59 weeks of age • Video observations (furnished cages only) • activity, furniture use in light & dark, location & time of egg laying • Immunology • total & differential white cell counts, mitogen stimulation test, IL-6 production test • Stress physiology • plasma corticosterone, egg albumen corticosterone, corticosterone response to ACTH • Morphology • body weight, feather condition & cover, foot condition, claw length and condition, pecking injuries, keel bone deformation • Bone strength • at end of experiment only

  9. Bone strength:

  10. Results: - Furniture - Bone strength At 67-70 weeks of age ab: P<0.05 No effect on femur Higher value = stronger bone

  11. Results: - Furniture - Behaviour ab: P<0.05

  12. Results: Furniture - Integument damage/cover ab: P<0.05 The higher the score the higher the damage or the poorer the cleanliness. Differences were relatively minor.

  13. Results: - Egg laying behaviour Approximately 70 % of eggs laid in nest box, if present ab: P<0.05

  14. Results:GS/SA - Corticosterone/Immunology X ? * P=0.051 X †sampling period commencing at 59 weeks of age; ab P < 0.05; pq P < 0.01

  15. Bone strength (N) at 68-70 weeks of age: ab P< 0.05 * = significant effect of perch Higher value = stronger bone

  16. Conclusions: • With the exception of the positive effects of a perch on bone strength, any effects of items of furniture in furnished cages are relatively small. • While there were changes in behaviour, it is unclear whether they have any implications for welfare. • Some evidence of stress in 16 bird cages (ie. group size effect) • higher egg corticosterone concentrations • lower immunological responsiveness in in vitro tests • the lower ACTH response suggests effects may be acute rather than chronic • Within the range of space (750 and 1500 cm2/hen) and group size (8 and 16 hens) treatments, the effects of group size on welfare related criteria were potentially greater than the effects of space allowance: These effects were larger than those due to ‘furniture’.

  17. General thoughts: • Context re alternative housing systems: • Criticism of a housing system leads to development of alternative systems with (initially) more focus on getting them ‘working’ and many untested assumptions on improving welfare • With alternative systems, we generally succeed in simply replacing one set of problems with another set of problems • We then become proactive and undertake research to properly identify and attempt to solve the problems • Unlikely to make significant progress in improving housing for animals until we have a better understanding of basic requirements of animals

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