Barrett Lorelle, Maloney Shane K, Blache Dominique
School of Agriculture & Environment, M079 and UWA Institute of Agriculture, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Perth, WA 6009, Australia.
Animal Health & Welfare Directorate, Agriculture & Investment Services, Ministry for Primary Industries, PO Box 2526, Wellington 6140, New Zealand.
Anim Welf. 2023 Mar 6;32:e28. doi: 10.1017/awf.2023.19. eCollection 2023.
Nest design is one factor contributing to floor-laying in farmed poultry. We investigated: (i) if ducks () prefer a particular nest substrate; and (ii) how important that preference is to them, indicated by stress-induced hyperthermia, egg albumen corticosterone, and behaviour. Twelve female ducks that were trained in a push-door task had temperature data loggers implanted. Preference testing identified the most and least preferred nest substrates between sawdust, astroturf, and hemp fibres. A behavioural demand test then required the ducks to use push-doors to access nests containing either the most or least preferred substrate. The preferred substrate door was loaded with increasing weight (0-120% of bodyweight, four nights per workload) and eventually blocked to prevent nest access. The least preferred substrate door remained unweighted. The overall rank order of substrate preferences was sawdust > hemp > astroturf. Six of the 12 birds pushed all workloads and attempted to push the blocked door. The area under the curve (AUC) of hyperthermia was larger when the preferred substrate door was blocked compared with 0%. The AUC did not differ between nights 2-4 of the blocked door compared with night 1. Egg albumen corticosterone was unaffected. We conclude that laying Pekin ducks prefer manipulatable nest substrates and accessing one is important enough to pay a cost. The results indicate that a manipulatable substrate should be provided to commercially farmed nesting ducks.
巢的设计是影响养殖家禽产蛋的一个因素。我们进行了以下研究：（i）鸭子是否偏好特定的巢材；（ii）这种偏好对它们有多重要，通过应激性体温过高、蛋清皮质酮和行为来体现。对12只经过推门任务训练的雌鸭植入了温度数据记录器。偏好测试确定了锯末、人造草皮和麻纤维中最受偏好和最不受偏好的巢材。然后通过行为需求测试要求鸭子使用推门来进入装有最受偏好或最不受偏好巢材的巢。给偏好的巢材那扇门逐渐增加重量（体重的0 - 120%，每个工作量持续四个晚上），最终将门堵住以阻止进入巢中。最不受偏好的巢材那扇门则不加重物。巢材偏好的总体排序为锯末>麻>人造草皮。12只鸭子中有6只推开了所有工作量的门，并试图推开被堵住的门。与0%相比，当偏好的巢材那扇门被堵住时，体温过高的曲线下面积（AUC）更大。被堵住的门在第2 - 4晚与第1晚相比，AUC没有差异。蛋清皮质酮不受影响。我们得出结论，北京鸭产蛋时更喜欢可操控的巢材，且进入这样的巢对它们很重要，以至于愿意为此付出代价。结果表明，应向商业化养殖的产蛋鸭提供可操控的巢材。
