Page 4 - National Poultry Newspaper

Susanne Hermesch and Melina Tensen were snapped by the author at morning tea at an animal industry meeting in Melbourne. Canberra based, Melina is the RSPCA Farm Animals Senior Scientific Officer. Melina is sometimes responsible for articles in RSPCA’s Animal Welfare Science Update. Susanne is Associate Professor at Animal Genetics and Breeding Unit, University of New England, NSW.
RSPCA’s regular Ani- mal Welfare Science Update typically gives me some food for thought.
Compiled quarterly by RSPCA Australia’s sci- ence team to raise aware- ness of recent develop- ments in animal welfare science that relate to the work of the RSPCA, it offers plain English sum- maries of the most rel- evant and interesting pa- pers and reports, in the RSPCA’s mind at least, on animal welfare pub- lished in the previous few months.
In the July Issue # 65, I spotted an intriguing piece about the relative preferences of broilers when it comes to perch- ing positions and perch- ing heights.
Admittedly the research was undertaken in Ger- many and the broiler strains used in the study might not be available Down Under, but chick- ens are chickens essen- tially, so let’s fly with it.
After first asking the question: ‘Do broiler chickens with different growth rates use perches and grids differently?’, it went on and made its case, relatively clearly I think.
“At night, chickens will roost in elevated posi- tions to avoid predation.
In addition, access to perches is associated with improved bone strength and better foot health in broiler chickens.
Previous research has
and grown to market weight.
In each pen was a struc- ture consisting of three levels (10cm, 30cm, 50cm), with three perches on one side, three plat- forms on the other side and a ramp in between to allow easy access to the perching sites.
The use of the perches during the day and night was monitored using video cameras, and the general activity levels of the chickens was moni- tored using transponders attached to their legs.
The behaviour of the chickens and their pref- erence for the different structures was compared between the three strains.
The elevated structures were used by all three strains of chicken, and the fast-growing Ross strain used the elevated structures less than the slower-growing strains.
This was attributed to their reduced locomotor ability and potentially poor leg health.
All three strains pre- ferred to use the grids over the perches, though the LB chickens used the perches more often.
There was a high level of activity on the struc- tures at dawn rather than at night, which was unex- pected, as chickens often use elevated positions to roost during the night.
The chickens that did roost at night preferred to roost on the highest level of the structure.
In conclusion, broiler
chickens are motivated to use high, stable structures such as raised grids.”
Credit: Malchow J, Berk J, Puppe B et al (2019) Perches or grids? What do rearing chickens differ- ing in growth performance prefer for roosting. Poul- try Science 98:29-38.
In the same Update, un- der the heading ‘Humane Killing’, was a piece on the effectiveness of a non-penetrating captive bolt device for killing layer chickens.
Here’s how it covered what’s always a tough is- sue and a vexed question.
“In the poultry industry, it is sometimes necessary to kill birds to prevent suffering in sick or in- jured birds, to control the spread of disease, or for managing the number of birds in the laying house.
The most common method used is mechani- cal cervical dislocation, however this is unpleasant for stockpeople to perform and may not result in im- mediate loss of conscious- ness in the birds.
Recent developments in the availability of com- mercially produced non- penetrating captive bolt (NPCB) devices may pro- vide an alternative meth- od of humane killing of poultry on-farm.
This study compared the effectiveness and humaneness of three commercially available NPCB devices for killing layer chickens.”
To learn the outcomes, visit rspca.org.au
Food for thought on the welfare front
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shown broilers prefer to roost on platforms rather than perches, and the use of elevated structures can vary with height, time of day and growth rate.
This study investigated whether the growth rate of broiler chickens influ- enced their preferences for platforms and perches at different heights.
This study was conduct- ed at a research institute in Germany using three strains of chicken: a fast growing strain (Ross), a medium-growing dual- purpose strain (Dual) and a slow-growing strain (LB).
At one-day old, 200 chickens from each strain were divided into groups of 50 and placed into pens of the same strain,
Page 4 – National Poultry Newspaper, July 2019
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