End of lay postmortem findings in aviary housed laying hens
ABSTRACT: Good health and low mortality are constitutive elements of good animal welfare. In laying hens, mortality and pathological findings are usually reported as cumulative proportions from onset of lay to culling. However, knowledge of pathological lesions and causes of death specifically towar...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2023-02-01
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| Series: | Poultry Science |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579122006265 |
| _version_ | 1811175472067772416 |
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| author | Páll Gretarsson Käthe Kittelsen Randi O. Moe Guro Vasdal Ingrid Toftaker |
| author_facet | Páll Gretarsson Käthe Kittelsen Randi O. Moe Guro Vasdal Ingrid Toftaker |
| author_sort | Páll Gretarsson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | ABSTRACT: Good health and low mortality are constitutive elements of good animal welfare. In laying hens, mortality and pathological findings are usually reported as cumulative proportions from onset of lay to culling. However, knowledge of pathological lesions and causes of death specifically toward the end of the production period are scarce. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of postmortem lesions and tentative causes of death in non-beak trimmed, end of lay hens, housed in multitiered aviary systems. A convenience sample of 48 flocks was recruited. In each flock, layers dead between wk 65 and 70 were necropsied in the field. In total, 482 layers were subjected to postmortem examination. The 4 most common pathological lesions were keel bone fracture (KBF) (92%), fatty liver (42%), emaciation (23%), and salpingitis (22%). Apart from keel bone fracture, the relative frequency of the pathological lesions variated between flocks, indicating that flock is an important factor. Common tentative causes of death were salpingitis (18%) and fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS) (13%). This study sheds light on health challenges aviary housed layers are facing end of lay, which is crucial knowledge in the development of preventive measures to secure good health and welfare. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T19:37:32Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4bce2a777d7d4340b2d5e0343ade359e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 0032-5791 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T19:37:32Z |
| publishDate | 2023-02-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Poultry Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-4bce2a777d7d4340b2d5e0343ade359e2023-01-30T04:11:17ZengElsevierPoultry Science0032-57912023-02-011022102332End of lay postmortem findings in aviary housed laying hensPáll Gretarsson0Käthe Kittelsen1Randi O. Moe2Guro Vasdal3Ingrid Toftaker4Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, NMBU – Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway; Corresponding author:Animalia – The Norwegian Meat and Poultry Research Centre, Oslo, NorwayFaculty of Veterinary Medicine, NMBU – Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, NorwayAnimalia – The Norwegian Meat and Poultry Research Centre, Oslo, NorwayFaculty of Veterinary Medicine, NMBU – Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, NorwayABSTRACT: Good health and low mortality are constitutive elements of good animal welfare. In laying hens, mortality and pathological findings are usually reported as cumulative proportions from onset of lay to culling. However, knowledge of pathological lesions and causes of death specifically toward the end of the production period are scarce. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of postmortem lesions and tentative causes of death in non-beak trimmed, end of lay hens, housed in multitiered aviary systems. A convenience sample of 48 flocks was recruited. In each flock, layers dead between wk 65 and 70 were necropsied in the field. In total, 482 layers were subjected to postmortem examination. The 4 most common pathological lesions were keel bone fracture (KBF) (92%), fatty liver (42%), emaciation (23%), and salpingitis (22%). Apart from keel bone fracture, the relative frequency of the pathological lesions variated between flocks, indicating that flock is an important factor. Common tentative causes of death were salpingitis (18%) and fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome (FLHS) (13%). This study sheds light on health challenges aviary housed layers are facing end of lay, which is crucial knowledge in the development of preventive measures to secure good health and welfare.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579122006265pathologyend-of-laylayerpoultrycage-free |
| spellingShingle | Páll Gretarsson Käthe Kittelsen Randi O. Moe Guro Vasdal Ingrid Toftaker End of lay postmortem findings in aviary housed laying hens Poultry Science pathology end-of-lay layer poultry cage-free |
| title | End of lay postmortem findings in aviary housed laying hens |
| title_full | End of lay postmortem findings in aviary housed laying hens |
| title_fullStr | End of lay postmortem findings in aviary housed laying hens |
| title_full_unstemmed | End of lay postmortem findings in aviary housed laying hens |
| title_short | End of lay postmortem findings in aviary housed laying hens |
| title_sort | end of lay postmortem findings in aviary housed laying hens |
| topic | pathology end-of-lay layer poultry cage-free |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032579122006265 |
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