Effects of Perches on Behavior, Heart Rate, Body Temperature and Locomotor Activity of Caged Hens

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate the behavior and physiological conditions of hens housed in cages with or without perches. The physiological parameters investigated were heart rate (HR), body temperature (BT) and locomotor activity (LA) using a radiotelemetry system. Six White Leghorn hens (3*-weeks-old) were used after transmitters implantation. Following the preconditioning period for at least +* days, the behavioral and physiological data were recorded for , consecutive days, which were the data in the control cages without perches (C). After that, the same hens were exposed to the following types of cages : conventional cages with perches available all day (P,.), followed by conventional cages with perches from +3.** to *2.** hours (P+-), and finally housed in conventional cages with perches from +3.** to *..** hours (P3). The interval between each trial was a +* days to habituate the hens with their new environment. Immediately following this, the behavioral and physiological data were recorded for , consecutive days for each trial. The only significant behavioral di#erence was found in the time consumed in resting, which increased significantly in P,. cages than in C and P 3 cages (P῍*.*/). Our physiological data during the light period indicate that the hens in P,., P+-and P3 cages had a significantly higher heart rate than in C cages (P῍*.*+). On the other hand, hens in P,. cages had a significantly lower BT than in C, P+-, and P3 cages (P῍*.*+), however, hens in P,. cages had a significantly higher LA than in C, P+-and P3 cages (P῍*.*+). Moreover, during the dark period, hens in P,. cages had a significantly lower HR, BT and LA than all the other treatment (P῍*.*+). These results suggest that the use of cages with perches might be important for the hens' welfare than those without perches.

Effects of perch on feed consumption and behaviour of caged laying hens

“…However, perches may have advantageous effect on feed conversion ratio. This may be accounted for less active behaviour in cages with perches which Braastad (1990) and Matsui et al (2004) have reported.…”

Production performance and nitrogen flow of Shaver White layers housed in enriched or conventional cage systems

“…Similarly, bird activity tends to increase with increasing group size when associated with the cage area (Carey et al, 1995;Albentosa et al, 2007), which can be explained by the synchronous feeding of hens (Hughes, 1971). In addition, Matsui et al (2004) and Elson and Croxall (2006) reported a lower feed intake for birds in furnished compared with conventional cages. Furnishing cages with perches tend to decrease bird activity (Matsui et al, 2004), increase the amount of resting behavior occurring in the cage (Tauson, 1998), and provide better insulation of the hens' bodies at night when roosting on the perch (Lill, 1968).…”

“…In addition, Matsui et al (2004) and Elson and Croxall (2006) reported a lower feed intake for birds in furnished compared with conventional cages. Furnishing cages with perches tend to decrease bird activity (Matsui et al, 2004), increase the amount of resting behavior occurring in the cage (Tauson, 1998), and provide better insulation of the hens' bodies at night when roosting on the perch (Lill, 1968).…”

Effect of housing environment and hen strain on egg production and egg quality as well as cloacal and eggshell microbiology in laying hens

“…The lower FI in EC may be due to the perches. Utilization of perches in this environment increases roosting behavior, thus decreasing motor activities and increasing resting time ( Tauson, 1998 ; Matsui et al., 2004 ). Enriched colony cages had greater feeder space than CC and FR, which may have contributed to non-aggressive and non-competitive feeding behavior ( Thogerson et al., 2009 ) and may have contributed to lower FI as well as lower feed waste.…”