Effects of clipping of flight feathers on resource use in Gallus gallus domesticus
Ground-dwelling species of birds, such as domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), experience difficulties sustaining flight due to high wing loading. This limited flight ability may be exacerbated by loss of flight feathers that is prevalent among egg-laying chickens. Despite this, chickens ho...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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The Royal Society
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Royal Society Open Science |
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| Online Access: | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.211561 |
| _version_ | 1797837566524784640 |
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| author | Renée Garant Bret W. Tobalske Neila BenSassi Nienke van Staaveren Dan Tulpan Tina Widowski Donald R. Powers Alexandra Harlander-Matauschek |
| author_facet | Renée Garant Bret W. Tobalske Neila BenSassi Nienke van Staaveren Dan Tulpan Tina Widowski Donald R. Powers Alexandra Harlander-Matauschek |
| author_sort | Renée Garant |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ground-dwelling species of birds, such as domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), experience difficulties sustaining flight due to high wing loading. This limited flight ability may be exacerbated by loss of flight feathers that is prevalent among egg-laying chickens. Despite this, chickens housed in aviary style systems need to use flight to access essential resources stacked in vertical tiers. To understand the impact of flight feather loss on chickens' ability to access elevated resources, we clipped primary and secondary flight feathers for two hen strains (brown-feathered and white-feathered, n = 120), and recorded the time hens spent at elevated resources (feeders, nest-boxes). Results showed that flight feather clipping significantly reduced the percentage of time that hens spent at elevated resources compared to ground resources. When clipping both primary and secondary flight feathers, all hens exhibited greater than or equal to 38% reduction in time spent at elevated resources. When clipping only primary flight feathers, brown-feathered hens saw a greater than 50% reduction in time spent at elevated nest-boxes. Additionally, brown-feathered hens scarcely used the elevated feeder regardless of treatment. Clipping of flight feathers altered the amount of time hens spent at elevated resources, highlighting that distribution and accessibility of resources is an important consideration in commercial housing. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:27:52Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-627462fa87b0470ba633f5469c1c8935 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2054-5703 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:27:52Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | The Royal Society |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Royal Society Open Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-627462fa87b0470ba633f5469c1c89352023-04-28T11:04:59ZengThe Royal SocietyRoyal Society Open Science2054-57032022-03-019310.1098/rsos.211561Effects of clipping of flight feathers on resource use in Gallus gallus domesticusRenée Garant0Bret W. Tobalske1Neila BenSassi2Nienke van Staaveren3Dan Tulpan4Tina Widowski5Donald R. Powers6Alexandra Harlander-Matauschek7Department of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road E, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaDivision of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, 32 Campus Drive, Missoula, MT 59812, USADepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road E, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road E, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road E, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaDepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road E, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaDepartment of Biology, George Fox University, 414N Meridian St, Newberg, OR 97132, USADepartment of Animal Biosciences, University of Guelph, 50 Stone Road E, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1, CanadaGround-dwelling species of birds, such as domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus), experience difficulties sustaining flight due to high wing loading. This limited flight ability may be exacerbated by loss of flight feathers that is prevalent among egg-laying chickens. Despite this, chickens housed in aviary style systems need to use flight to access essential resources stacked in vertical tiers. To understand the impact of flight feather loss on chickens' ability to access elevated resources, we clipped primary and secondary flight feathers for two hen strains (brown-feathered and white-feathered, n = 120), and recorded the time hens spent at elevated resources (feeders, nest-boxes). Results showed that flight feather clipping significantly reduced the percentage of time that hens spent at elevated resources compared to ground resources. When clipping both primary and secondary flight feathers, all hens exhibited greater than or equal to 38% reduction in time spent at elevated resources. When clipping only primary flight feathers, brown-feathered hens saw a greater than 50% reduction in time spent at elevated nest-boxes. Additionally, brown-feathered hens scarcely used the elevated feeder regardless of treatment. Clipping of flight feathers altered the amount of time hens spent at elevated resources, highlighting that distribution and accessibility of resources is an important consideration in commercial housing.https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.211561feather lossflapping flightlocomotionwing damagewing wearbird |
| spellingShingle | Renée Garant Bret W. Tobalske Neila BenSassi Nienke van Staaveren Dan Tulpan Tina Widowski Donald R. Powers Alexandra Harlander-Matauschek Effects of clipping of flight feathers on resource use in Gallus gallus domesticus Royal Society Open Science feather loss flapping flight locomotion wing damage wing wear bird |
| title | Effects of clipping of flight feathers on resource use in Gallus gallus domesticus |
| title_full | Effects of clipping of flight feathers on resource use in Gallus gallus domesticus |
| title_fullStr | Effects of clipping of flight feathers on resource use in Gallus gallus domesticus |
| title_full_unstemmed | Effects of clipping of flight feathers on resource use in Gallus gallus domesticus |
| title_short | Effects of clipping of flight feathers on resource use in Gallus gallus domesticus |
| title_sort | effects of clipping of flight feathers on resource use in gallus gallus domesticus |
| topic | feather loss flapping flight locomotion wing damage wing wear bird |
| url | https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsos.211561 |
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