A Place to Be? Use of Winter Gardens with and without Automatic Enrichment Devices by Laying Hens

Abstract

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) (p < 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; p < 0.05). Our data indicate that the automatic enrichment device positively influences the animals’ use of the WG.

Welfare of laying hens on farm

“…Furthermore, the majority of the time spent outside the house was spent in the veranda (58% reported by (Larsen et al, 2017); and 71% reported by (Gebhardt-Henrich et al, 2014)). Riedel et al (2022) reported that 8% of the flock was present in the veranda on average, which was increased to 12% if grain dosing devices were provided. Some newly developed systems have extended covered verandas but allow no or very limited outdoor access.…”

“…Riedel et al. (2022) reported that 8% of the flock was present in the veranda on average, which was increased to 12% if grain dosing devices were provided. Some newly developed systems have extended covered verandas but allow no or very limited outdoor access.…”

Influence of an Automatic Enrichment Device on Laying Hen Behavior and Plumage Condition

“…Therefore, on two days of each phase in the time between 14:00 and 16:00, 10 randomly selected hens were observed. This time was chosen on the basis of hen counts from the same WGs [ 25 ], indicating times when the area was well frequented and no feeding times in the henhouse were programmed. The program GoldenRatio (Version 3.1, Markus Welz, Krailling, Germany) was used to outline the observed area consistently in every video.…”

“… ( a ) Scheme of the henhouse and winter gardens (WGs 1–4) with the downpipes with pecking plates indicated with red dots; ( b ) photograph of the enrichment device with the pecking plate circled in red (photo: A. Riedel). Adapted from [ 25 ]. …”

“…An enrichment device was installed in the WGs that doses grains on rough-coated plates, triggered by pecks at said plates. Its influence on the number of animals using the WG was studied in a previous study, indicating higher numbers of hens in WGs offering an automatic enrichment device and decreasing interest with a higher age [ 25 ]. For the present study, the behavior of the laying hens and duration of stay in the WG were studied under on-farm conditions and the influence of the device on plumage condition was analyzed.…”