A Place to Be? Use of Winter Gardens with and without Automatic Enrichment Devices by Laying Hens
Since the abolition of beak trimming in laying hens in Germany, the importance of adequate enrichment material to help reduce feather pecking and cannibalism has grown. Here we tested an automatic enrichment device dosing grain via rough-coated pecking plates (PPs) on an organic farm, comparing its...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-04-01
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| Series: | Applied Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/7/3650 |
| _version_ | 1827624263084933120 |
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| author | Anna Riedel Lorena Rieke Nicole Kemper Birgit Spindler |
| author_facet | Anna Riedel Lorena Rieke Nicole Kemper Birgit Spindler |
| author_sort | Anna Riedel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Since the abolition of beak trimming in laying hens in Germany, the importance of adequate enrichment material to help reduce feather pecking and cannibalism has grown. Here we tested an automatic enrichment device dosing grain via rough-coated pecking plates (PPs) on an organic farm, comparing its offer in four winter gardens (WGs). Winter garden (WG) 1 served as the control area without an automatic enrichment device, while WGs 2–4 offered different quantities of PPs, with WG 2 offering double the amount of PPs as WGs 3 and 4. The number of laying hens (Lohmann Brown Lite) per m² and close to the enrichment device (one hen‘s body length around) was determined using photo records. The usage behavior of the hens differed in the four WGs and with the animals’ age. Over the whole husbandry period (60 weeks), on average, 1.48 hens/m² were detected in the control area (WG 1), and a mean of 2.27 hens/m² in the enriched WGs. Compared to WG 1, the number of hens per m² was higher in WG 2 (2.43 hens/m²) and WG 3 (2.59 hens/m²) (<i>p</i> < 0.05), but similar in WG 4 (1.79 hens/m²). At the end of the husbandry period, fewer animals (mean of all WGs: 1.43 hens/m²) used the WGs than from beginning to the middle of the laying period (mean of all WGs: 2.05–2.15 hens/m²; <i>p</i> < 0.05). Our data indicate that the automatic enrichment device positively influences the animals’ use of the WG. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:05:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0c379da96d1a42d1a411643764249b4c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-3417 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T12:05:19Z |
| publishDate | 2022-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Applied Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-0c379da96d1a42d1a411643764249b4c2023-11-30T22:58:39ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172022-04-01127365010.3390/app12073650A Place to Be? Use of Winter Gardens with and without Automatic Enrichment Devices by Laying HensAnna Riedel0Lorena Rieke1Nicole Kemper2Birgit Spindler3Institute for Animal Hygiene, Animal Welfare and Farm Animal Behaviour, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischhofsholer Damm 15, D-30173 Hannover, GermanyInstitute for Animal Hygiene, Animal Welfare and Farm Animal Behaviour, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischhofsholer Damm 15, D-30173 Hannover, GermanyInstitute for Animal Hygiene, Animal Welfare and Farm Animal Behaviour, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischhofsholer Damm 15, D-30173 Hannover, GermanyInstitute for Animal Hygiene, Animal Welfare and Farm Animal Behaviour, University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Bischhofsholer Damm 15, D-30173 Hannover, GermanySince the abolition of beak trimming in laying hens in Germany, the importance of adequate enrichment material to help reduce feather pecking and cannibalism has grown. Here we tested an automatic enrichment device dosing grain via rough-coated pecking plates (PPs) on an organic farm, comparing its offer in four winter gardens (WGs). Winter garden (WG) 1 served as the control area without an automatic enrichment device, while WGs 2–4 offered different quantities of PPs, with WG 2 offering double the amount of PPs as WGs 3 and 4. The number of laying hens (Lohmann Brown Lite) per m² and close to the enrichment device (one hen‘s body length around) was determined using photo records. The usage behavior of the hens differed in the four WGs and with the animals’ age. Over the whole husbandry period (60 weeks), on average, 1.48 hens/m² were detected in the control area (WG 1), and a mean of 2.27 hens/m² in the enriched WGs. Compared to WG 1, the number of hens per m² was higher in WG 2 (2.43 hens/m²) and WG 3 (2.59 hens/m²) (<i>p</i> < 0.05), but similar in WG 4 (1.79 hens/m²). At the end of the husbandry period, fewer animals (mean of all WGs: 1.43 hens/m²) used the WGs than from beginning to the middle of the laying period (mean of all WGs: 2.05–2.15 hens/m²; <i>p</i> < 0.05). Our data indicate that the automatic enrichment device positively influences the animals’ use of the WG.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/7/3650laying henautomatic enrichmentwinter gardenbehavioral observation |
| spellingShingle | Anna Riedel Lorena Rieke Nicole Kemper Birgit Spindler A Place to Be? Use of Winter Gardens with and without Automatic Enrichment Devices by Laying Hens Applied Sciences laying hen automatic enrichment winter garden behavioral observation |
| title | A Place to Be? Use of Winter Gardens with and without Automatic Enrichment Devices by Laying Hens |
| title_full | A Place to Be? Use of Winter Gardens with and without Automatic Enrichment Devices by Laying Hens |
| title_fullStr | A Place to Be? Use of Winter Gardens with and without Automatic Enrichment Devices by Laying Hens |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Place to Be? Use of Winter Gardens with and without Automatic Enrichment Devices by Laying Hens |
| title_short | A Place to Be? Use of Winter Gardens with and without Automatic Enrichment Devices by Laying Hens |
| title_sort | place to be use of winter gardens with and without automatic enrichment devices by laying hens |
| topic | laying hen automatic enrichment winter garden behavioral observation |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/12/7/3650 |
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