Comparison of changes in the plumage and body condition, egg production, and mortality of different non-beak-trimmed pure line laying hens during the egg-laying period (2021)

Milisits, G., Szász, S., Donkó, T. et al.

Abstract

The spread of both alternative and non-cage laying hen housing systems and the more forceful European refusal of beak trimming generate new problems in commercial egg production. The hybrid layers, which have been genetically selected under cage housing conditions for more decades, have lively temperament, are more susceptible for feather pecking and, in more cases, they are expressly aggressive, which led to permanent conflict situations in the large group keeping systems. Therefore, the omission of beak trimming could lead to an increased risk for feather pecking and consequently to a risk for increased mortality in the hen house by using the current commercial layers. Therefore, changes in the live weight, plumage and body condition, egg production, and mortality of different TETRA pure line non-beak-trimmed laying hens were compared during the egg-production period in our study, where the plumage condition was considered as an indicator trait for feather pecking. Our results confirm the findings of former studies that the genetic background of the hens is an important factor impacting feather pecking and suggest that breeding for an improved plumage condition might be a potential way to improve animal welfare in non-beak-trimmed layer flocks.