Genetic parameter estimates for the use of an aviary with winter garden by laying hens
ABSTRACT: The behavioral activity of laying hens in an aviary is indicative of their welfare and health. Furthermore, hens’ usage of the different locations within an aviary has been shown to influence laying performance and egg quality. For example, hens that spent a longer duration of time in the...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2024-03-01
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| Series: | Poultry Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579123008891 |
| _version_ | 1797291817995075584 |
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| author | Bayode O. Makanjuola Sabine G. Gebhardt-Henrich Michael J. Toscano Christine F. Baes |
| author_facet | Bayode O. Makanjuola Sabine G. Gebhardt-Henrich Michael J. Toscano Christine F. Baes |
| author_sort | Bayode O. Makanjuola |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT: The behavioral activity of laying hens in an aviary is indicative of their welfare and health. Furthermore, hens’ usage of the different locations within an aviary has been shown to influence laying performance and egg quality. For example, hens that spent a longer duration of time in the nest during laying were observed to have lower laying performance. Therefore, understanding genetics of laying hens’ usage of the aviary could be important for predicting egg quality, production traits and health and welfare. The objectives of this study were to estimate genetic parameters for duration of time spent at different locations within the aviary and an adjacent winter garden using a multivariate repeatability model and to compare correlations between time spent in these locations. For this study, a total of 1,106 Dekalb white laying hens (Hendrix Genetics) were genotyped using a proprietary 60K SNP array. These hens had access to 5 different zones within the aviary, which included the top level tier, nest box tier, lower level tier, floor littered area and a winter garden. Hens were in the aviary for a total of 290 d and daily records of duration were collected for each hen visit to any location in the aviary, culminating in a total of 937,740 records. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.05 (0.01) to 0.28 (0.03) for the duration of time spent in the different zones. The lowest heritability was estimated for time spent at the lower level tier, while a higher heritability was estimated for time spent in the floor littered area. A moderately high negative genetic correlation of −0.59 (0.08) was observed between time spent in the top level tier and time spent in the floor littered area, while a favorable correlation of 0.37 (0.14) was found between time spent in the lower level tier and time spent in the winter garden. The findings of this study show that the duration of time spent at different zones within an aviary has genetic basis and could be used for selecting animals for better performance and higher welfare. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T19:43:14Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-31f948e25d2143e589aee5fcf12541dc |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0032-5791 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T19:43:14Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Poultry Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-31f948e25d2143e589aee5fcf12541dc2024-02-29T05:17:09ZengElsevierPoultry Science0032-57912024-03-011033103369Genetic parameter estimates for the use of an aviary with winter garden by laying hensBayode O. Makanjuola0Sabine G. Gebhardt-Henrich1Michael J. Toscano2Christine F. Baes3Centre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock, Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, CanadaZTHZ, Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandZTHZ, Division of Animal Welfare, University of Bern, Bern, SwitzerlandCentre for Genetic Improvement of Livestock, Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, ON, Canada; Institute of Genetics, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland; Corresponding author:ABSTRACT: The behavioral activity of laying hens in an aviary is indicative of their welfare and health. Furthermore, hens’ usage of the different locations within an aviary has been shown to influence laying performance and egg quality. For example, hens that spent a longer duration of time in the nest during laying were observed to have lower laying performance. Therefore, understanding genetics of laying hens’ usage of the aviary could be important for predicting egg quality, production traits and health and welfare. The objectives of this study were to estimate genetic parameters for duration of time spent at different locations within the aviary and an adjacent winter garden using a multivariate repeatability model and to compare correlations between time spent in these locations. For this study, a total of 1,106 Dekalb white laying hens (Hendrix Genetics) were genotyped using a proprietary 60K SNP array. These hens had access to 5 different zones within the aviary, which included the top level tier, nest box tier, lower level tier, floor littered area and a winter garden. Hens were in the aviary for a total of 290 d and daily records of duration were collected for each hen visit to any location in the aviary, culminating in a total of 937,740 records. Heritability estimates ranged from 0.05 (0.01) to 0.28 (0.03) for the duration of time spent in the different zones. The lowest heritability was estimated for time spent at the lower level tier, while a higher heritability was estimated for time spent in the floor littered area. A moderately high negative genetic correlation of −0.59 (0.08) was observed between time spent in the top level tier and time spent in the floor littered area, while a favorable correlation of 0.37 (0.14) was found between time spent in the lower level tier and time spent in the winter garden. The findings of this study show that the duration of time spent at different zones within an aviary has genetic basis and could be used for selecting animals for better performance and higher welfare.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579123008891geneticshousing systemsaviarywelfarehen behavior |
| spellingShingle | Bayode O. Makanjuola Sabine G. Gebhardt-Henrich Michael J. Toscano Christine F. Baes Genetic parameter estimates for the use of an aviary with winter garden by laying hens Poultry Science genetics housing systems aviary welfare hen behavior |
| title | Genetic parameter estimates for the use of an aviary with winter garden by laying hens |
| title_full | Genetic parameter estimates for the use of an aviary with winter garden by laying hens |
| title_fullStr | Genetic parameter estimates for the use of an aviary with winter garden by laying hens |
| title_full_unstemmed | Genetic parameter estimates for the use of an aviary with winter garden by laying hens |
| title_short | Genetic parameter estimates for the use of an aviary with winter garden by laying hens |
| title_sort | genetic parameter estimates for the use of an aviary with winter garden by laying hens |
| topic | genetics housing systems aviary welfare hen behavior |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579123008891 |
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