Domestication and selection for high production have selected animals with less energy-demanding behaviour. In the natural environment of the ancestors, fitness (reproductive success) is often favoured by an ability to locate and remember food sites, whereas in captivity, fitness may be more related to the ability to grow and reproduce efficiently under stable food conditions. …
Fear is now widely regarded as an undesirable state of suffering by many members of the public, the scientific community, welfare and policy groups, as well as by a growing number of farmers. At first glance this view appears to be inconsistent with one based on biological significance, in which fear is regarded as an …
1. Over twelve 28-d laying periods (almost one year), 272 laying hens of the Lohmann Silver strain, individually tagged with transponders, were monitored on their ranging behaviour and laying performance in an aviary system with an adjacent winter garden. 2. From laying periods 1 to 12, the daily frequency of passages between the barn and …
Tests assessing the fear of humans by measuring avoidance or approach reactions of the test animals towards humans can be useful tools in welfare assessment schemes. In this study, we wanted to compare tests assessing the reactions of laying hens towards humans in the home environment to a test performed in a novel environment. As …
1. This trial studied the effects of strain and age on tonic immobility (TI) duration, emergence time (ET) and social reinstatement time (SRT) in laying hens and investigated the consistency of individual behavioural characteristics over rearing and laying periods and the correlations between these behavioural traits. 2. One hundred chicks from each of ISA Brown …
1. Physiological and behavioural measures of stress in caged hens on a commercial farm were compared between White Leghorn and brown Hyline strains, and between three tiers of cages. 2. Blood and faecal samples were collected from undisturbed birds for corticosterone measurements. Plasma corticosterone responses to a stressor were measured by the collection of blood …
Domestic fowl (Gallus gallus domesticus) naturally live in small groups, with a dominance hierarchy (pecking order) which is most likely based on establishment fights, followed by remembered assessment of status involving individual recognition. In larger groups, this system is thought to break-down, and hens may adapt by becoming less aggressive, or by restricting their movements …
White Leghorn chickens were genetically selected for high (HGPS) or low (LGPS) group productivity and survivability. The selection resulted in two genetic lines with marked opposite changes in cannibalism and flightiness when housed in multiple-colony battery cages without beak trimming. The objective of the study was to examine whether the genetic selection differentially affected the …
Four layer genetic stocks consisting of 3 Ottawa control strains (5, 7, and 10) and a commercial laying stock (CCS) …
This article presents a model to calculate the level of ammonia emission from commercial layer houses. The first part of …
Livestock and poultry producers face a number of challenges including pressure from the public to be good environmental stewards and adopt welfare friendly practices. In response, producers often implement practices beyond those required for regulatory compliance to meet consumer demands. However, environmental stewardship and animal welfare may have conflicting objectives. Examples include pasture-based dairy and …
Limited data on pollutant emissions from poultry operations are available to assess the effect of these operations on the environment …
For the poultry industry, concerns about ammonia are multifaceted and include issues of live production performance, animal health, and welfare, and environmental impact. Retail industry marketers, as a component of their evolving animal care audit programs, are issuing guidelines for the control and reduction of ammonia within poultry facilities to address animal welfare concerns. At …
In the last few years, regulatory focus has been on nutrient management from animal feeding operations with recent emphasis on air emissions. The main challenge is establishing current emission levels and determining best methodologies for measuring these accurately. Methodologies to measure air emissions under field and research conditions are currently available and are being further …
Practical means to decrease aerial emissions will enhance the ability of the US egg industry to improve environmental stewardship while …
Ammonia gas is one of the most abundant aerial pollutants of modern poultry buildings. The current chronic exposure limit for ammonia of 25 ppm is set for human safety rather than animal welfare. This study assessed the behavioural preferences of laying hens (Gallus gallus domesticus) for different concentrations of ammonia found in commercial poultry houses. …