Impact of feeder space on laying hen feeding behavior and production performance in enriched colony housing

Animal : an International Journal of Animal Bioscience
J L OliveiraH Wu

Abstract

Current feeder space recommendations in laying hen welfare guidelines are inconsistent among and within countries. One determining criterion forming the recommendations (e.g. 12.0 cm/hen for the EU guideline) is that all birds can feed simultaneously. However, if there are other resources in the environment, as in enriched colony housing (ECH), it is unknown whether group-housed hens will choose to feed simultaneously. This study assesses the impact of feeder space on feeding behavior of 60 laying hens (W-36) in ECH using a ultra-high frequency radio-frequency identification-based tracking system. The feeder spaces investigated were 12.0, 9.5, 8.5 and 6.5 cm/hen, achieved by blocking portions of the overall feeder access to keep hens at the same stocking density. Each feeder space treatment, randomly assigned over the course of the experiment, lasted for 7 consecutive days. Feeding behaviors were characterized as daily time spent at the feeder (TS, min/hen-day), daily frequency of visits to the feeder (FV, #/hen-day), and maximum or average percentage of hens feeding simultaneously (MPB, APB, %). Group-average daily feed intake (FI, g/hen-day), water use (WU, g/hen-day), and hen-day egg production (HDEP, %) were also measured. ...Continue Reading

References

Apr 8, 2014·Poultry Science·Joy A Mench, Richard A Blatchford
Oct 1, 1979·Behavioural Processes·E M BanksN J Mankovich
Nov 12, 2015·Animal : an International Journal of Animal Bioscience·H MaI Alvarez
Jun 23, 2016·Animal : an International Journal of Animal Bioscience·D L M CampbellC Lee

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Citations

Mar 5, 2021·Poultry Science·Guoming LiChristopher Magee
Sep 23, 2021·British Poultry Science·Fajun PuChaowu Yang

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