Evidence-Based Recommendations for Effective Enrichment to Improve the Welfare of Caged Hens Used for Research and Teaching Purposes
Currently, there are no guidelines on housing or recommendations for practical environmental enrichments for chickens used for research and teaching purposes. This study was conducted to identify optimal enrichment programs to improve the health and welfare of caged hens used for teaching and resear...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-10-01
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| Series: | Poultry |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2674-1164/3/4/27 |
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| author | Amy F. Moss Rebel Northey Sukirno Aamir Nawab Nasima Akter Peta S. Taylor Hiep Thi Dao |
| author_facet | Amy F. Moss Rebel Northey Sukirno Aamir Nawab Nasima Akter Peta S. Taylor Hiep Thi Dao |
| author_sort | Amy F. Moss |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Currently, there are no guidelines on housing or recommendations for practical environmental enrichments for chickens used for research and teaching purposes. This study was conducted to identify optimal enrichment programs to improve the health and welfare of caged hens used for teaching and research purposes. The 24-week-old Hy-line Brown laying hens (<i>n</i> = 168) were allocated at random to six enrichment programs/treatments with 14 replicate cages of two birds per cage during a 5-week experiment. Hens had physical access to the following treatments: no enrichment provided (control); round, wooden perches provided (perch); scratch pads made of wood and covered with sandpaper provided (scratch pad); hanging CDs provided (hanging CD); all three enrichment forms provided (complex environment); and each enrichment form provided on a 2-week rotation (novelty). While the egg quality was consistent, the complex group had a significantly lower feed intake (<i>p</i> < 0.001) but similar egg mass; thus, they also had a lower feed conversion ratio (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Additionally, hens in the complex treatment group had the leanest average body weight at week 5 (<i>p</i> < 0.01). It should be noted that while some measures of welfare did show significant differences, the biological or practical difference may be negligible, as in the case of the body condition score in this study. The results show that providing three different forms of environmental enrichment had positive effects on the welfare, health condition, and laying performance of laying hens relative to no enrichment or only one enrichment item. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-45bb9f02829c40deb44f1d5055eef8b2 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2674-1164 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Poultry |
| spelling | doaj-art-45bb9f02829c40deb44f1d5055eef8b22025-08-20T02:56:51ZengMDPI AGPoultry2674-11642024-10-013435436310.3390/poultry3040027Evidence-Based Recommendations for Effective Enrichment to Improve the Welfare of Caged Hens Used for Research and Teaching PurposesAmy F. Moss0Rebel Northey1Sukirno2Aamir Nawab3Nasima Akter4Peta S. Taylor5Hiep Thi Dao6School of Environmental and Rural Science, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, AustraliaSchool of Environmental and Rural Science, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, AustraliaSchool of Environmental and Rural Science, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, AustraliaSchool of Environmental and Rural Science, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, AustraliaSchool of Environmental and Rural Science, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, AustraliaAnimal Welfare Science Centre, School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3010, AustraliaSchool of Environmental and Rural Science, Faculty of Science, Agriculture, Business and Law, University of New England, Armidale, NSW 2351, AustraliaCurrently, there are no guidelines on housing or recommendations for practical environmental enrichments for chickens used for research and teaching purposes. This study was conducted to identify optimal enrichment programs to improve the health and welfare of caged hens used for teaching and research purposes. The 24-week-old Hy-line Brown laying hens (<i>n</i> = 168) were allocated at random to six enrichment programs/treatments with 14 replicate cages of two birds per cage during a 5-week experiment. Hens had physical access to the following treatments: no enrichment provided (control); round, wooden perches provided (perch); scratch pads made of wood and covered with sandpaper provided (scratch pad); hanging CDs provided (hanging CD); all three enrichment forms provided (complex environment); and each enrichment form provided on a 2-week rotation (novelty). While the egg quality was consistent, the complex group had a significantly lower feed intake (<i>p</i> < 0.001) but similar egg mass; thus, they also had a lower feed conversion ratio (<i>p</i> < 0.001). Additionally, hens in the complex treatment group had the leanest average body weight at week 5 (<i>p</i> < 0.01). It should be noted that while some measures of welfare did show significant differences, the biological or practical difference may be negligible, as in the case of the body condition score in this study. The results show that providing three different forms of environmental enrichment had positive effects on the welfare, health condition, and laying performance of laying hens relative to no enrichment or only one enrichment item.https://www.mdpi.com/2674-1164/3/4/27enrichment programwelfarehealthegg chickensperchscratch pad |
| spellingShingle | Amy F. Moss Rebel Northey Sukirno Aamir Nawab Nasima Akter Peta S. Taylor Hiep Thi Dao Evidence-Based Recommendations for Effective Enrichment to Improve the Welfare of Caged Hens Used for Research and Teaching Purposes Poultry enrichment program welfare health egg chickens perch scratch pad |
| title | Evidence-Based Recommendations for Effective Enrichment to Improve the Welfare of Caged Hens Used for Research and Teaching Purposes |
| title_full | Evidence-Based Recommendations for Effective Enrichment to Improve the Welfare of Caged Hens Used for Research and Teaching Purposes |
| title_fullStr | Evidence-Based Recommendations for Effective Enrichment to Improve the Welfare of Caged Hens Used for Research and Teaching Purposes |
| title_full_unstemmed | Evidence-Based Recommendations for Effective Enrichment to Improve the Welfare of Caged Hens Used for Research and Teaching Purposes |
| title_short | Evidence-Based Recommendations for Effective Enrichment to Improve the Welfare of Caged Hens Used for Research and Teaching Purposes |
| title_sort | evidence based recommendations for effective enrichment to improve the welfare of caged hens used for research and teaching purposes |
| topic | enrichment program welfare health egg chickens perch scratch pad |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2674-1164/3/4/27 |
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