Page 4 - National Poultry Newspaper

RSPCA senior scientific officer farm animals Melina Tensen (second from right) attended the December 2010 Perth launch of RSPCA approved Mt Barker Free Range Chicken. She was pictured with Mt Barker Free Range Chicken Perillup growers Tom and Narelle Riggall, Mt Barker Free Range Chicken general manager, Mark Rintoul and Milne Agrigroup general manager of monogastric production, David Plant.
In conventional laying hens feather loss began in week 23 and progressed over time as 50 percent of individuals presented feather loss at an age of 32 weeks, and 92 percent of the hens were affected by the end of the study.
This study conducted in the Netherlands involved 600 female and 54 male breeders, which were as- signed to six even-sized pens.
Animal welfare must be front and centre
Cant Comment by BRENDON CANT
RSPCA Australia’s sci- ence team produces a quarterly Animal Wel- fare Science Update to lift awareness of recent developments in animal welfare science that relate to the RSPCA’s work.
were housed in identical conditions throughout the study.
produce more eggs. Further, hens are more likely to lay eggs in a pre- ferred nest, which thereby reduces the number of eggs laid outside the nests
The Update provides very readable plain Eng- lish summaries of what the RSPCA’s science ‘peeps’, including the likes of Melina Tensen – senior scientific of- ficer (farm animals), determine are the most relevant and interesting scientific papers and re- ports on animal welfare published in the previous few months.
beneficial for producers because floor eggs can lead to economic losses.
Delivering Specialist Agribusiness Public Relations Skills that will build your business, enhance your brand, promote your products and sell your services, all backed by unsurpassed professionalism, experience and track record.
Contact Brendon Cant
M 0417 930 536 E brendon@iinet.net.au
I get it and I enjoy read- ing it.
In the dual-purpose hens, feather loss was only observed after week 34 and at the end of the study only 8 percent of the dual-purpose hens had been affected.
Each pen had four types of nests: a nest with plas- tic walls; a nest with plas- tic walls and a partition in the middle; a nest with wooden walls; and a nest with plastic walls and a ventilator underneath.
My ‘two bob’s worth’ is that animal welfare needs to be front and centre in any discussion about our meat or egg laying industries.
It results in poor welfare, as injurious pecking is as- sociated with feather loss, pain, reduced thermoreg- ulation and a greater risk of cannibalism.
The wooden nest also received less visits per egg laid.
Without recognising its inherent importance, we let our industry and con- sumers down, let alone the birds who make us the dollars and feed our customers.
Another welfare chal- lenge in commercial farms is the killing of one-day old male chicks.
(Giersberg MF, Spin- dler B, Rodenburg B et al (2020) The dual-purpose hen as a chance: Avoiding injurious pecking in mod- ern laying hen husbandry. Animals 10(1), 16.)
However, this resulted in higher crowding and ag- gressive behaviours in the wooden nest.
A possible solution to this is to have dual-pur- pose laying hens where the males can be grown for meat production.
The nest with the ven- tilator was the least pre- ferred nest.
However, it is not clear if dual-purpose hens present greater risk for injurious pecking than conventional laying hens.
Finding the preferred nest for meat chicken breeder hens has multiple benefits for both hens and producers.
These results indicate that the material used for nests is an important fac- tor to consider when de- signing suitable nests.
This study was con- ducted in Hannover, Ger- many where over 11,000 conventional and dual- purpose laying hens were evaluated.
Where hens’ welfare requirements are met and they are provided appropriate nests, they are more likely to be healthy, present less ag- gressive behaviour and
(van den Oever AC, Ro- denburg TB, Bolhuis JE et al (2020) Relative pref- erence for wooden nests affects nesting behaviour of broiler breeders. Ap- plied Animal Behaviour Science 222:104883.)
All hens had untrimmed beaks and the two groups
Lesions associated with injurious pecking were assessed through a vis- ual scoring method by a trained observer on a weekly basis and injuries were scored based on the body part affected and se- verity of the damage.
– floor eggs.
Reducing floor eggs is
Typically, it covers farmed and other animals and birds.
Keeping dual-purpose laying hens decreases risk of injurious peck- ing
No sign of injury or severe feather loss was observed in the dual- purpose hens, whereas 50 percent of conventional laying hens had severe feather loss after week 48, and 10 percent of the hens presented skin injuries af- ter week 63.
Hens were observed and eggs were counted in each nest for 12 weeks.
The latest issue 68 had a couple of poultry pieces which caught my eye and I hope they catch yours.
Commercial laying hen husbandry has several welfare challenges.
After 12 weeks, the pre- ferred nest was closed and hens were observed for an additional two weeks.
I’ll share them with you now, word for word, on the condition you read them with an open mind and offer your feedback, if so inspired, direct to NPN.
One of these challeng- es is injurious pecking, which is an abnormal be- haviour carried out by lay- ing hens often due to poor or stressful housing and management conditions.
These results indicate that keeping dual-purpose hens could be a possible alternative to avoid the practice of one-day old male chick culling, and reduces losses due to inju- rious pecking.
During the first 12 weeks, the hens preferred the wooden nest, as more eggs were laid there and hens spent more time sit- ting in the wooden nest than in the other nests.
Finding the preferred nest for meat chicken breeder hens
After closing the wood- en nest, the hens laid eggs in the nest that was closest to the wooden nest.
Page 4 – National Poultry Newspaper, June 2020
A deliciously irresistible afternoon tea was enjoyed in Melbourne by Susanne Hermesch, University of New England and Melina Tensen, RSPCA, at the 2018 Pork Cooperative Research Centre stakeholders’ day.
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