van Staaveren Nienke, Decina Caitlin, Baes Christine F, Widowski Tina M, Berke Olaf, Harlander-Matauschek Alexandra
Department of Animal Biosciences, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, Canada.
Animals (Basel). 2019 Feb 6;9(2):49. doi: 10.3390/ani9020049.
Although Canada is one of the first to provide guidelines on pullet rearing in a new Code of Practice which came into effect in March 2017, little information is available about the housing and management of pullets on Canadian farms. We surveyed 99 pullet farmers and received useable responses from 33 pullet farmers (33.3% response rate) who took part in the Start Clean-Stay Clean™ program through their provincial egg boards across Canada during October⁻December 2017 as part of a larger study. Most flocks were housed in conventional cage systems (42.4%), followed by single-tier (33.3%) and multi-tier systems (24.2%). Flocks ranged from 1⁻19 weeks of age (average: 10.5 weeks of age) and were white- (58.1%) or brown-feathered (41.9%). In general, non-cage farmers met the new requirements set out in the Code of Practice for space, perches and litter provision during pullet rearing during this transitional period. Conventional caged flocks did not have opportunities for perching and foraging, but developing new methods to provide pullets with opportunities to perch and forage will become more important as the laying hen housing system transition from conventional cages to furnished cage and non-cage housing systems in Canada progresses. Additionally, clear litter management recommendations for farmers to ensure good litter quality are needed for non-cage housing systems.
尽管加拿大是最早在2017年3月生效的新《操作规范》中提供蛋鸡饲养指南的国家之一，但关于加拿大农场蛋鸡的饲养管理信息却很少。我们调查了99位蛋鸡养殖户，作为一项更大规模研究的一部分，在2017年10月至12月期间，通过加拿大各省的蛋品委员会参与“从清洁开始，保持清洁”（Start Clean-Stay Clean™）计划的33位蛋鸡养殖户（回复率为33.3%）给出了可用回复。大多数鸡群饲养在传统笼养系统中（42.4%），其次是单层（33.3%）和多层系统（24.2%）。鸡群年龄在1至19周之间（平均：10.5周龄），羽毛为白色的占58.1%，棕色的占41.9%。总体而言，在这个过渡时期，非笼养养殖户在蛋鸡饲养期间的空间、栖木和垫料供应方面符合《操作规范》规定的新要求。传统笼养鸡群没有栖木和觅食机会，但随着加拿大蛋鸡饲养系统从传统笼养向带装备笼养和非笼养系统转变，开发为蛋鸡提供栖木和觅食机会的新方法将变得更加重要。此外，对于非笼养系统，需要为养殖户提供明确的垫料管理建议，以确保良好的垫料质量。
