Department of Population Medicine, Ontario Veterinary College, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road E, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada.
Department of Animal Biosciences, Ontario Agricultural College, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road E, Guelph, Ontario, N1G 2W1, Canada.
BMC Vet Res. 2019 Dec 3;15(1):435. doi: 10.1186/s12917-019-2168-2.
Feather damage (FD) resulting from feather pecking remains a concern in non-cage housing systems for laying hens worldwide. This study aimed to identify bird-, housing-, and management-related factors associated with FD in non-cage housing systems as the egg production sector phases out the conventional cage system in Canada. A survey on housing and management practices was developed and distributed to 122 laying hen farms where 39 respondents provided information on non-cage flocks. Farmers visually assessed 50 birds throughout the barn for FD using a 0-2 scoring scale according to severity. Prevalence of FD was calculated as the percentage of birds with any form of FD (score > 0). Multivariable linear regression modeling was used to identify factors associated with FD prevalence.
Six variables were included in the final model and accounted for 64% of the variation in FD between farms. FD prevalence was higher with increasing flock age (0.9% ± 0.29) and when birds were housed in all wire/slatted barns compared with all litter barns (37.6% ± 13.1). Additionally, FD prevalence tended to be higher in barns with manure removal only after depopulation (20.1% ± 10.70). Enrichment also tended to be associated with higher FD (19.1% ± 8.04), possibly indicating that it was provided after FD was observed as a control measure, or, was not efficient in reducing the development of FD.
These findings emphasize the role of litter provision and management (e.g., manure removal effects on air quality), and its potential impact on FD among laying hens in non-cage housing systems in Canada. Further longitudinal and/or intervention studies are needed to assess the potential of the identified factors to function as a management strategy to prevent or reduce FD in non-cage housed laying hens.
啄羽导致的羽毛损伤（FD）仍然是全球非笼养产蛋鸡舍系统中的一个关注点。本研究旨在确定与加拿大淘汰传统笼养系统过程中，非笼养系统中与鸟类、饲养和管理相关的 FD 因素。开发了一项关于饲养和管理实践的调查，并分发给 122 个蛋鸡养殖场，其中 39 个受访者提供了非笼养鸡群的信息。农民根据严重程度使用 0-2 评分量表对整个鸡舍中的 50 只鸡进行 FD 目视评估。根据任何形式的 FD（评分>0）的鸡只百分比计算 FD 的流行率。使用多变量线性回归模型来确定与 FD 流行率相关的因素。
最终模型中包含 6 个变量，占农场之间 FD 差异的 64%。随着鸡群年龄的增长（0.9%±0.29）和与所有垫料鸡舍相比，所有金属丝/格栅鸡舍中饲养的鸡只（37.6%±13.1），FD 流行率更高。此外，在仅在清群后进行粪便清除的鸡舍中，FD 流行率也有升高的趋势（20.1%±10.70）。丰容也可能与更高的 FD 有关（19.1%±8.04），这可能表明它是在观察到 FD 作为控制措施后提供的，或者，在减少 FD 发展方面效率不高。
这些发现强调了垫料的提供和管理（例如，粪便清除对空气质量的影响）的作用，及其对加拿大非笼养产蛋鸡舍系统中母鸡 FD 的潜在影响。需要进一步的纵向和/或干预研究来评估确定的因素作为预防或减少非笼养产蛋母鸡 FD 的管理策略的潜力。
