UEBEAC, AFSSA-LERAP, Zoopôle Beaucemaine BP 53, 22440 Ploufragan, France.
Animal. 2007 Mar;1(3):433-7. doi: 10.1017/S1751731107705323.
New housing systems for commercial egg production, furnished cages and non-cage systems, should improve the welfare of laying hens. In particular, thanks to the presence of a litter area, these new housing systems are thought to satisfy the dust-bathing motivation of hens more than in conventional cages, in which no litter area is present. However, although apparently obvious, there is no concrete evidence that non-cage systems, particularly aviaries, satisfy hens' motivation to dust-bathe and thus improve hens' welfare in terms of dust-bathing behaviour. The aim of this study was to compare hens' dust-bathing motivation when housed for a long time under similar conditions to commercial conditions in laying aviaries (with litter) and in conventional cages (without litter). Three treatments were compared: hens reared in floor pens then housed in conventional cages, hens reared in furnished floor pens then housed in a laying aviary, and hens reared in rearing aviaries then housed in a laying aviary. All three treatments provided access to litter during the rearing period. After transfer to the laying systems, access to litter was maintained for the aviary hens but stopped for the cage hens. Twelve groups of four hens per treatment were tested 36 to 43 weeks after transfer. The hens were placed in sawdust-filled testing arenas, and latency to dust-bathe, duration and number of dust baths, and number of hens dust-bathing were recorded. Latency to dust-bathe was shorter, dust baths were longer and more numerous and more hens dust-bathed among cage hens than among aviary hens. Our results indicate that hens' motivation to dust-bathe was more satisfied in laying aviaries than in conventional cages. Thus, laying aviaries improve hens' welfare in term of dust-bathing behaviour compared with conventional cages.
用于商业蛋鸡生产的新型饲养系统，如笼养和非笼养系统，应改善蛋鸡的福利。特别是，由于存在垫料区，这些新型饲养系统被认为比传统笼养更能满足母鸡的沙浴动机，因为传统笼养中没有垫料区。然而，尽管这似乎是显而易见的，但没有确凿的证据表明非笼养系统，特别是开放式鸡舍，能够满足母鸡沙浴的动机，从而改善母鸡在沙浴行为方面的福利。本研究的目的是比较在类似商业条件下，长时间饲养在开放式鸡舍（有垫料）和传统笼养（无垫料）中的母鸡的沙浴动机。比较了三种处理方法：在地面鸡舍中饲养然后转入传统笼养的母鸡、在有垫料的饲养笼中饲养然后转入开放式鸡舍的母鸡、以及在育雏鸡舍中饲养然后转入开放式鸡舍的母鸡。所有三种处理方法都在育雏期间提供垫料。转入产蛋系统后，开放式鸡舍的母鸡可以继续使用垫料，但笼养的母鸡则不能。在转入产蛋系统后 36 至 43 周，对每个处理的 12 组 4 只母鸡进行了测试。将母鸡放入装满锯末的测试区，记录其沙浴潜伏期、沙浴持续时间、次数和参与沙浴的母鸡数量。笼养母鸡的沙浴潜伏期更短，沙浴时间更长，次数更多，参与沙浴的母鸡也更多。我们的结果表明，在开放式鸡舍中，母鸡的沙浴动机比在传统笼养中更强烈。因此，与传统笼养相比，开放式鸡舍在沙浴行为方面提高了母鸡的福利。
