Delanglez Femke, Watteyn Anneleen, Ampe Bart, Antonissen Gunther, Detand Jan, Verroens Wout, Tuyttens Frank
Animal Sciences Unit, Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO), Melle, Belgium.
Ethology and Animal Welfare Research Group, Department of Veterinary and Biosciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ghent University, Heidestraat 19, 9820 Merelbeke, Belgium.
Anim Welf. 2025 Jun 25;34:e45. doi: 10.1017/awf.2025.10020. eCollection 2025.
Depopulation of end-of-lay hens can result in stress and injury for both hens and catchers. A pilot study was assessed to optimise hen and catcher well-being during loading. Two add-on prototypes for attaching to transport container drawers were tested on five commercial aviary farms: prototype 1 (metal tube with vertical flaps); and prototype 2 (frame with horizontal flaps). Per flock, a subset of 800 end-of-lay hens was assigned to one of three treatments: Standard container with 15 drawers; Standard container plus prototype 1; and Standard container plus prototype 2. Parameters (filling duration, number of escapes, number of body part entrapments, restlessness, and loading inefficiency in container) were scored during the catch, supplemented by a post-loading catcher survey, and at the slaughterhouse (loading damage prevalence, number of dead-on-arrivals). The three treatments were compared using a 1-7 Likert scale. Hens were significantly calmer with prototype 1 compared to prototype 2 with no significant difference relative to the standard container. Loading was less efficient for prototype 2 vs the standard container. Catchers preferred prototype 1 and the standard container over prototype 2 for ease of use and hen calmness and prototype 2 showed no advantages for efficiency or animal and catcher well-being. Prototype 1 resulted in fewer breast bruises than the standard container with no difference in loading efficiency and requires larger-scale testing for enhancing effectiveness, animal and catcher well-being.
淘汰产蛋末期母鸡可能会给母鸡和抓鸡工人带来压力和伤害。一项试点研究旨在优化装载过程中母鸡和抓鸡工人的福利。在五个商业笼养农场测试了两种用于连接运输集装箱抽屉的附加原型：原型1（带有垂直挡板的金属管）；原型2（带有水平挡板的框架）。对于每个鸡群，将800只产蛋末期母鸡的一个子集分配到三种处理之一：带有15个抽屉的标准集装箱；标准集装箱加原型1；标准集装箱加原型2。在抓鸡过程中对参数（填充持续时间、逃脱次数,身体部位被困次数、不安程度和集装箱内装载效率低下情况）进行评分，并辅以装货后抓鸡工人的调查，以及在屠宰场（装载损伤发生率、到达时死亡数量）。使用1-7李克特量表对三种处理进行比较。与原型2相比，使用原型1时母鸡明显更平静，与标准集装箱相比无显著差异。与标准集装箱相比，原型2的装载效率较低。抓鸡工人在易用性和母鸡平静度方面更喜欢原型1和标准集装箱，而不是原型2，并且原型2在效率或动物和抓鸡工人福利方面没有优势。与标准集装箱相比，原型1导致的胸部瘀伤更少，装载效率没有差异，需要进行更大规模的测试以提高有效性、动物和抓鸡工人的福利。
