Chicken

Situational factors that influence the level of fear of human by laying hens

On the basis of the withdrawal responses of birds to an approaching experimenter, fear of humans may decline from moderate levels among birds housed in Tier 1 (bottom) to Tier 3, in both systems and then sharply increase from Tier...

Year Published: 1993Animal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Hemsworth, P. H., Barnett, J. L., Jones, R. B. 1993. Situational factors that influence the level of fear of human by laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 36, 197-210.

Does dustbathing increase broiler productivity? In: Proceedings of the International Congress on Applied Ethology

Chickens kept in floor pens with wood shavings as litter performed five times more dust bathing behaviour when a wooden box containing peat moss was placed in the pen. The provision of peat moss dust had unexpected health benefits: Mortality...

Year Published: 1993Animal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Newberry, R. C. 1993. Does dustbathing increase broiler productivity? In: Proceedings of the International Congress on Applied Ethology. Nichelmann, M., Wierenga, H. K., Braun, S. (eds), 527-528. Kuratorium f?r Technik und Bauwesen in der Landwirtschaft [KTBL], Darmstadt, Germany.

Effects of rearing experience and stimulus enrichment on feather damage in laying hens

Rearing chicks with access to sand and peat for dustbathing reduced later tendencies to engage in feather pecking; straw enrichment [cut straw in baskets] for laying hens had a similar effect.

Year Published: 1993Animal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Norgaard-Nielsen, G., Vestergaard, K., Simonsen, H. B. 1993. Effects of rearing experience and stimulus enrichment on feather damage in laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 38, 345-352.

Pecking behaviour of laying hens provided with a simple motorized environmental enrichment device

The hens operated such devices infrequently and habituation occurred within 5 d.

Year Published: 1993Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Sherwin, C. M. 1993. Pecking behaviour of laying hens provided with a simple motorized environmental enrichment device. British Poultry Science 34, 235-240.

The effect of environmental enrichment during rearing on fear reactions and depopulation trauma in adult caged hens

Environmental enrichment [plastic bottled, rattles, human voice by radio] during rearing was identified as an important factor affecting fear levels and risk of injury in adult birds.

Year Published: 1993Animal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Reed, H. J., Wilkins, L. J., Austin, S. D. et al. 1993. The effect of environmental enrichment during rearing on fear reactions and depopulation trauma in adult caged hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 36, 39-46.

Effect of age and presence of perches during rearing on tonic immobility fear reactions of broiler breeder pullets

Fearfulness was attenuated by the provision of perches during rearing.

Year Published: 1994Animal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Brake, J., Keeley, T. P. 1994. Effect of age and presence of perches during rearing on tonic immobility fear reactions of broiler breeder pullets. Poultry Science 73, 1470-1474.

The effects of modifying the amount of human contact on behavioural, physiological and production responses of laying hens

Increasing the amount of human contact reduced the level of fear of humans ... and decreased corticosterone response to handling, with consequent positive effects on production.

Year Published: 1994Animal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Barnett, J. L., Hemsworth, P. H., Hennessy, D. P. et al. 1994. The effects of modifying the amount of human contact on behavioural, physiological and production responses of laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 41, 87-100.

Nesting, dust bathing and perching by laying hens in cages: Effects of design on behaviour and welfare

Feather, foot and claw damage all tended to be less in the experimental [equipped with perch, dust bath and nest box] than in the conventional cages.Abstract published in Journal of Animal Science 70 (Supplement 1), 172, 1992; Appleby MC; Behaviour-environment...

Year Published: 1993Animal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Appleby, M. C., Smith, S. F., Hughes, B. O. 1993. Nesting, dust bathing and perching by laying hens in cages: Effects of design on behaviour and welfare. British Poultry Science 34, 835-847.

An enrichment object that reduces aggressiveness and mortality in caged laying hens

The enrichment devices (colored key rings) significantly reduced aggressive head-pecking behavior and significantly decreased the mortality rate.

Year Published: 1994Topics: Environmental EnrichmentAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Gvaryahu, G., Ararat, E., Asaf, E. et al. 1994. An enrichment object that reduces aggressiveness and mortality in caged laying hens. Psychology and Behavior 55, 313-316.

Choice tests for space in groups of laying hens

Chickens were tested for their preference for [barren, unstructured] space. In terms of welfare it is usually assumed that the larger the cage, the better the welfare. However, according to present results this is not the case for some groups...

Year Published: 1994Topics: HousingAnimal Type: Bird, Chicken

Citation: Faure, J. M. 1994. Choice tests for space in groups of laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 39, 89-94.