Abstract:Furnished rearing cages are becoming more widely available to replace conventional systems for pullets. To date, there is little information on how pullets develop perching behavior in furnished cages or how this varies among strains. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of perches and a platform in a commercial furnished rearing "Combi-Cage" system by 3 pure-bred heritage strains of pullets (Rhode Island Red, Columbian Rock, and White Leghorn). Each cage had 4 elevated locations: one platform a… Show more
“… 1 CON, conventional cage 76 cm × 71 cm × 46 cm; FUR, furnished cage 239 cm × 80 cm × 75 cm outfitted with platforms and terraces to increases opportunities for load bearing exercises (e.g., jumping, perching, flying) ( Casey-Trott et al., 2017 ; Habinski et al., 2017 ). …”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The chicks were placed based on BW to 18 conventional ( CON , 20 pullets/cage; Ford Dickison Inc., Mitchell, ON, Canada) and 18 furnished cages ( FUR , 30 pullets/cage; Farmer Automatic, Clark Ag Systems Ltd., Caledonia, ON, Canada). The details of the CON and FUR cages used in the present study were described in our previous publications ( Casey-Trott et al., 2017 ; Habinski et al., 2017 ). Briefly, the dimension (L × W × H) of CON and FUR cages were 76 cm × 71 cm × 46 cm and 239 cm × 80 cm × 75 cm, respectively.…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Briefly, the dimension (L × W × H) of CON and FUR cages were 76 cm × 71 cm × 46 cm and 239 cm × 80 cm × 75 cm, respectively. The FUR cages were outfitted with platforms and terraces to increase opportunities for load bearing exercises (e.g., jumping, perching, and flying) ( Casey-Trott et al., 2017 ; Habinski et al., 2017 ). In each FUR cage, a feeder trough ran the length of the cage floor (11.4 cm W and 8.9 cm H; 23 cm from the front wall of the cage and 52 cm from the back wall) and allowed access on both sides.…”
Effects of rearing cage type and dietary limestone particle size (
LPS
) on growth, apparent retention (
AR
) of nutrients, and bone quality were investigated. The treatments were arranged in a 2 × 3 factorial with cage (conventional,
CON
and furnished,
FUR
) and LPS (fine, < 0.595 mm,
F
; medium, 0.595 to < 1.68 mm,
M
; and 1:1 mixture of F and M wt/wt;
FM
). A total of 900-day-old Lohmann LSL-Lite chicks were placed in CON (20 chicks/cage) and FUR (30 chicks/cage) based on BW. The diets were formulated according to breeder's nutrient specifications for starter, grower, and developer phases. At the end of 4, 12, and 16 wk of age (
woa
), 2 pullets/cage were euthanized for samples. At 12 and 16 woa, 1 pullet/cage was transferred to metabolism cages for AR measurements. There was no interaction (
P
> 0.05) between cage type and LPS on response variables. At 4 woa, body (
P
= 0.002) and bone (
P
< 0.05) weight was higher for CON than FUR pullets, but this was reversed (
P
< 0.01) at 16 woa. Pullets fed M LPS had higher (
P
< 0.05) AR of Ca, whole body mineral density (
BoMD
), and whole body mineral content (
BoMC
) than pullets fed F LPS. However, pullets fed F LPS had higher (
P
< 0.05) femur bone mineral density (
BMD
) and tended (
P
= 0.059) to have higher tibia bone breaking strength (
BBS
) than pullets fed M LPS at 16 woa. Pullets reared in CON cages had higher (
P
< 0.05) AR of Ca than FUR pullets. At 4 woa, CON pullets had lower (
P
< 0.05) femur and tibia BMD but higher tibia (93 vs. 83 N
P
= 0.012) BBS than FUR pullets. However, at 16 woa, FUR pullets had higher (
P
< 0.05) BoMD, BoMC, and tibia BBS than CON pullets. In conclusions, cage type and dietary LPS had independent effects on Ca utilization and skeletal development. Despite poor Ca retention, FUR caged pullets showed improved bone quality at 16 woa. Finer LPS improved femur mineral density suggesting coarser LPS had limited effects on pullet bone quality.
“… 1 CON, conventional cage 76 cm × 71 cm × 46 cm; FUR, furnished cage 239 cm × 80 cm × 75 cm outfitted with platforms and terraces to increases opportunities for load bearing exercises (e.g., jumping, perching, flying) ( Casey-Trott et al., 2017 ; Habinski et al., 2017 ). …”
Section: Resultsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…The chicks were placed based on BW to 18 conventional ( CON , 20 pullets/cage; Ford Dickison Inc., Mitchell, ON, Canada) and 18 furnished cages ( FUR , 30 pullets/cage; Farmer Automatic, Clark Ag Systems Ltd., Caledonia, ON, Canada). The details of the CON and FUR cages used in the present study were described in our previous publications ( Casey-Trott et al., 2017 ; Habinski et al., 2017 ). Briefly, the dimension (L × W × H) of CON and FUR cages were 76 cm × 71 cm × 46 cm and 239 cm × 80 cm × 75 cm, respectively.…”
Section: Methodsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Briefly, the dimension (L × W × H) of CON and FUR cages were 76 cm × 71 cm × 46 cm and 239 cm × 80 cm × 75 cm, respectively. The FUR cages were outfitted with platforms and terraces to increase opportunities for load bearing exercises (e.g., jumping, perching, and flying) ( Casey-Trott et al., 2017 ; Habinski et al., 2017 ). In each FUR cage, a feeder trough ran the length of the cage floor (11.4 cm W and 8.9 cm H; 23 cm from the front wall of the cage and 52 cm from the back wall) and allowed access on both sides.…”
Effects of rearing cage type and dietary limestone particle size (
LPS
) on growth, apparent retention (
AR
) of nutrients, and bone quality were investigated. The treatments were arranged in a 2 × 3 factorial with cage (conventional,
CON
and furnished,
FUR
) and LPS (fine, < 0.595 mm,
F
; medium, 0.595 to < 1.68 mm,
M
; and 1:1 mixture of F and M wt/wt;
FM
). A total of 900-day-old Lohmann LSL-Lite chicks were placed in CON (20 chicks/cage) and FUR (30 chicks/cage) based on BW. The diets were formulated according to breeder's nutrient specifications for starter, grower, and developer phases. At the end of 4, 12, and 16 wk of age (
woa
), 2 pullets/cage were euthanized for samples. At 12 and 16 woa, 1 pullet/cage was transferred to metabolism cages for AR measurements. There was no interaction (
P
> 0.05) between cage type and LPS on response variables. At 4 woa, body (
P
= 0.002) and bone (
P
< 0.05) weight was higher for CON than FUR pullets, but this was reversed (
P
< 0.01) at 16 woa. Pullets fed M LPS had higher (
P
< 0.05) AR of Ca, whole body mineral density (
BoMD
), and whole body mineral content (
BoMC
) than pullets fed F LPS. However, pullets fed F LPS had higher (
P
< 0.05) femur bone mineral density (
BMD
) and tended (
P
= 0.059) to have higher tibia bone breaking strength (
BBS
) than pullets fed M LPS at 16 woa. Pullets reared in CON cages had higher (
P
< 0.05) AR of Ca than FUR pullets. At 4 woa, CON pullets had lower (
P
< 0.05) femur and tibia BMD but higher tibia (93 vs. 83 N
P
= 0.012) BBS than FUR pullets. However, at 16 woa, FUR pullets had higher (
P
< 0.05) BoMD, BoMC, and tibia BBS than CON pullets. In conclusions, cage type and dietary LPS had independent effects on Ca utilization and skeletal development. Despite poor Ca retention, FUR caged pullets showed improved bone quality at 16 woa. Finer LPS improved femur mineral density suggesting coarser LPS had limited effects on pullet bone quality.
There are few published studies on the effect of stocking density (
SD
) of pullets, particularly between different genetic lines. The objectives of this study were to determine if strain or SD affects musculoskeletal development of pullets and determine any impact on the productivity and keel bone health of adult hens. Lohmann Selected Leghorn Lite (
LSL
), Dekalb White (
DW
), and Lohmann Brown (
LB
) pullets were reared at 4 different SD (247 cm
2
/bird, 270 cm
2
/bird, 299 cm
2
/bird, and 335 cm
2
/bird) in large cages furnished with elevated perches and a platform. At 16 wk of age, the keel bone, the muscles of the breast, wings, and legs, and the long bones of the wings and legs were collected to compare keel bone development, muscle growth, and bone breaking strength (
BBS
) between strain (adjusted for bodyweight) and SD treatments. Stocking density did not have an effect on the metasternum length, height, or area of the keel bone, the weights of the bicep brachii, pectoralis major or pectoralis minor, or the BBS of any of the selected bones. However, strain differences were found for all keel bone characteristics, all muscle weights, and the majority of BBS measures. The keel metasternum, height, and overall area of the keel bone were found to be smaller in LB pullets compared with LSL and DW pullets (
P
< 0.0001); however, cartilage length and overall percentage of the cartilage present on the keel bone was greatest in LB pullets (
P
< 0.0001). Leg muscles were heaviest in LB pullets (
P
< 0.05); however, breast muscles were heavier in LSL and DW pullets (
P
< 0.0001). Lohmann Brown pullets had lower BBS of the tibia (
P
< 0.0001) and femur (
P
< 0.0001) compared with LSL and DW pullets, whereas DW pullets had greater BBS of the humerus (
P
= 0.033). Additionally, there was a higher prevalence of keel bone fractures at 50 wk of age in LB hens compared with DW (
P
= 0.0144). Overall, SD during rearing used in this study had little impact on the musculoskeletal growth of pullets; however, significant differences were found between strains which may reflect strain-specific behavior. Additionally, differences in keel bone development between strains may lead to differences in keel bone damage in adult hens.
“…Some studies showed that early access to perches had positive effects on musculoskeletal health of pullets as well as subsequent long-term health of hens (Hester et al, 2013a;Yan et al, 2014;Habinski et al, 2016). Similarly, research found that rearing pullets without early access to perches could impair the spatial cognitive skills of hens (Gunnarsson et al, 2000), thus may be detrimental to their subsequent perching ability and long-term welfare.…”
Provision of perches in enriched colony or cage-free hen housing facilitates birds' ability to express natural behaviors, thus enhancing animal welfare. Although considerable research has been conducted on poultry perches, further investigation is needed of perching behavior and preference of laying hens to perch exposure and perch types. This study aimed to assess preference of young laying hens for round vs. hexagon perches and to characterize temporal perching behaviors of the young hens brought to an enriched colony setting from a cage pullet-rearing environment. A total of 42 Lohmann white hens in six equal groups, 17 weeks of age at the onset of the experiment, were used in the study. Each group of hens was housed in a wire-mesh floor pen equipped with two 120 cm long perches (one round perch at 3.2 cm dia. and one hexagon perch at 3.1 cm circumscribed dia., placed 40 cm apart and 30 cm above the floor). Each group was monitored continuously for 9 weeks. Perching behaviors during the monitoring period, including perching time, perch visit, and perching bird number, were recorded and analyzed daily using an automated perching monitoring system. Results revealed that the laying hens showed no preference between the round and hexagon perches (P = 0.59-0.98). Young laying hens without prior perching experience showed increasing use of perches over time (P < 0.01). It took up to five to seven weeks of perch exposure for young hens to show consistent perching behaviors in the enriched colony setting. This study also found that laying hens spent about 10% of daytime on the perches and over 75% of hens perched at night after approaching consistent perching behaviors. In general, the results supplemented to the existing knowledge base for the quantitative behavior study on laying hens' temporal perch use.
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