Influence of different dietary fibre contents in the diet on feather pecking, locomotor activity and performance of laying hens.

1. This study investigated the effects of three diets with increasing proportions of insoluble dietary fibre (3%, 6% and 9%) but with similar metabolisable energy on behaviour, plumage condition and laying performance of Lohmann Tradition hens.2. At 21 weeks of age, four groups of 20 hens each (= four replicates/treatment) were randomly assigned to one of the three feeding treatments and exclusively fed with their assigned feed until the end of the laying period.3. Severe feather pecking decreased with increasing fibre content (3%: 0.78 pecks/30 min/hen, 6%: 0.31, 9%: 0.12; P < 0.0001). In contrast, no effect of fibre was seen for gentle feather pecking (P = 0.19) and aggressive pecking (P = 0.84). The number of free feathers in the littered area increased with increasing fibre content (3%: 0.06 feathers/625cm2/hen, 6%: 0.09, 9%: 0.16; P = 0.0074). Over time, plumage quality worsened in all hens, but was consistently better with increasing fibre content (fibre content × sampling period; P < 0.0001). Locomotor activity was similar across all treatments, except for a slight decrease in hens fed the 3% fibre diet at the end of the experimental period. No effect of fibre content on hens' weight (P = 0.75) was detectable. Similarly, performance did not differ between hens fed varying dietary fibre.4. The results supported the assumption that increasing dietary fibre helps to reduce the risk for the occurrence of feather pecking in laying hens, i.e. improve well-being, while having no negative effects on performance.

Research Note: Injurious pecking in fattening turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo f. dom.)-video analyses of triggering factors and behavioral sequences in small flocks of male turkeys.

Injurious pecking is one of the main welfare issues in fattening turkey husbandry. Birds pecked by conspecifics can suffer from serious injuries that may even lead to the death of the victimized animals or require their culling. In the present study, the behavior of male turkeys was documented day and night using video recordings throughout the entire fattening period of 19 wk. Thus, when a turkey was found injured or dead in the barn, a retrospective analysis of video recordings was carried out to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death or injuries of the bird in the present study. In 3 fattening trials with a total of 1,620 male turkeys with intact beaks, 41 birds (2.5%) were found either seriously injured (n = 24) or dead (n = 17) in the barn as a result from conspecific pecking. The detailed evaluation of the video recordings showed that the onset of injurious pecking was mainly in the afternoon after the last daily visual controls of animals and that one third of the dead found animals died a natural death without any pecking incidents. The duration of injurious pecking directed against a certain conspecific was on average 794 min, ranging from 84 min to 1,437 min, that is up to almost an entire day. Pecking activities lasting more than 10 h were interrupted from the light regime between dusk and dawn but continued with the onset of light in the morning. Duration of injurious pecking events decreased with age (P = 0.031). If the victims laid down or were impaired in their mobility, they would be surrounded by up to 10 turkeys that would still be forcefully pecking at the occipital and neck area of the badly injured or moribund birds.

High, low, or familiar? Nest site preferences of experienced laying hens.

1. The aim of this study was to investigate which nest heights are preferred by laying hens in the absence of familiar nest locations and whether preferred nest heights are more attractive than a familiar location. In two experiments, a total of 108 hens of four different layer breeds, which were at least 50 weeks of age, were studied. 2. In the first experiment, hens were given individual free choice between nests for 1-week at four different heights (0 cm, 39 cm, 78 cm, and 117 cm above ground). Hens of the four breeds differed in their nest height preferences (P = 0.0013). However, hens of three breeds preferred ground level nests (P < 0.007) and the fourth line showed an equal preference for the ground level and level three, the latter level corresponding to the height of the nests in their home compartments. 4. In the second experiment, hens from the four breeds were given a choice between ground level nests and nests at a familiar location, i.e. at the same location as in their home compartment. Hens of all strains preferred the familiar nest location (P = 0.002) and preferences did not differ between strains (P = 0.77). 5. Laying hens seem to prefer nests at ground level in the absence of a familiar nest. However, if possible, experienced 50 week old hens continue to use a familiar nest location instead of a ground nest location. The results are discussed with respect to a potential primary preference that may be modifiable by experience and with respect to possible relevance in commercial housing.