Feather pecking and chronic fear in groups of red junglefowl: their relations to dustbathing, rearing environment and social status

Vestergaard, K.; Kruijt, Jaap P.; Hogan, Jerry A.

doi:10.1006/anbe.1993.1137

Cited by 151 publications

(68 citation statements)

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“…A higher foraging activity may cause newly dropped feathers to become buried more quickly in the litter. Furthermore, a positive correlation between fear and feather pecking has been shown (Hughes and Duncan, 1972;Vestergaard et al, 1993;Bolhuis et al, 2009). Therefore, sudden movements, such as escape attempts released due to elevated fear levels, are likely to occur in flocks exposed to high levels of severe feather pecking and this may cause feathers to accumulate in specific areas, for example corners, along walls or structures, manure belt or pit, etc.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

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Feather eating and its associations with plumage damage and feathers on the floor in commercial farms of laying hens

Riber

Hinrichsen

2016

Animal

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Feather eating has been associated with feather pecking, which continues to pose economic and welfare problems in egg production. Knowledge on feather eating is limited and studies of feather eating in commercial flocks of laying hens have not been performed previously. Therefore, the main objective was to investigate feather eating and its association with plumage damage and floor feather characteristics in commercial flocks of layers in barn and organic production systems. The study was performed in 13 flocks of barn layers and 17 flocks of organic layers. Each flock was visited at around 32 and 62 weeks of age. During both visits, the plumage condition was assessed and the density of floor feathers recorded. In week 62, droppings and floor feathers were collected. Droppings were examined for presence of feather content, whereas length, downiness and pecking damage were recorded for each floor feather. In week 62, a higher prevalence of hens with poor plumage condition was found in barn (22.2%) compared with organic production systems (7.4%; P < 0.001), but the prevalence of droppings with feather content did not differ between the two production systems (8.5% in barn v. 4.3% in organic; P = 0.99). Our hypothesis about a positive correlation between feather eating and plumage damage was not supported as no correlation was found between the prevalence of poor plumage condition and the prevalence of droppings with feather content. However, the prevalence of pecking damaged floor feathers was positively correlated both with prevalence of droppings with feather content ( P < 0.05) and poor plumage condition ( P < 0.01), indicating a possible association between feather eating and feather pecking. In conclusion, it was confirmed that feather eating occurs on-farm, but feather eating was only found to be positively correlated to the number of floor feathers with pecking damage and not as expected to the prevalence of plumage damage. More research is needed into the sources from where feathers are selected for ingestion, that is, whether they are picked from the floor litter, plucked directly from other hens or dislodged during preening of own feathers.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Feather pecking has been associated with increased levels of fear (Vestergaard et al, 1993;Jones et al, 1995) and with pain caused by the plucking and pulling of feathers (Gentle and Hunter, 1990). Moreover, feather pecking may develop into cannibalism (Schaible et al, 1947;Savory and Mann, 1997a).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Feather eating and its associations with plumage damage and feathers on the floor in commercial farms of laying hens

Riber

Hinrichsen

2016

Animal

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“…However, it will be necessary to set a maximum TI duration of higher than 600 s to allow the TI data to be analysed statistically to find out with more certainty whether RJF are more fearful than CB. The augmented TI response of RJF could be attributed to the positive association between fearfulness and feather-pecking behaviour (Vestergaard et al 1993). Zulkifli et al (1998) studied harmful social behaviour in broilers and jungle fowl and noted high frequency of bird-to-bird pecking in the latter.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Acute heat-stress effects on physiology and fear-related behaviour in red jungle fowl and domestic fowl

Zulkifli¹,

Dass²,

Norma³

1999

Can. J. Anim. Sci.

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Zulkifli, I., Dass, R. T. and Che Norma, M. T. 1999. Acute heat-stress effects on physiology and fear-related behaviour in red jungle fowl and domestic fowl. Can. J. Anim. Sci. 79: [165][166][167][168][169][170]. Two experiments were conducted to compare heat tolerance of red jungle fowl (RJF) and commercial broilers (CB) at (i) a common age and (ii) a common body weight. In exp. 1, RJF and CB of a common age (8 wk) were exposed to 36 ± 1°C for 6 h. RJF had smaller increases in heterophil to lymphocyte ratios and body temperature and higher serum cholesterol concentrations than CB in response to the heat treatment, while tonic immobility (TI) measurements were not affected by heat stress. In exp. 2, RJF and CB of a common body weight (1000 ± 150 g) were subjected to similar procedures as in exp. 1 (except TI durations). Both breeds responded similarly to the heat treatment. In both experiments, RJF had higher serum glucose level than CB, and the trait was not affected by heat exposure. Deux expériences ont été réalisées pour comparer la tolérance à la chaleur des galliformes rouges d'Asie (GRA) et des poulets de chair de production commerciale (PC) à un même âge et à un même poids corporel. Dans l'expérience 1, les GRA et les PC du même âge (8 semaines) étaient exposés à une température de 36 ± 1°C pendant 6 h. Les GRA manifestaient des accroissements moins importants du rapport hétérophiles-lymphocytes et de la température corporelle ainsi qu'une plus forte concentration sérique de cholestérol que les PC en réponse au traitement thermique. Par ailleurs, les valeurs d'immobilité tonique (IT) n'étaient pas touchées par le stress thermique. Dans l'expérience 2, les GRA et les PC de poids corporel comparable (1 000 ± 150 g) étaient exposés aux mêmes conditions que dans l'expérience 1, excepté pour la durée de IT. Les deux types de volaille réagissaient de la même façon au traitement thermique. Dans les 2 traitements les GRA avaient un niveau sérique de glucose plus élevé que les poulets domestiques et ce caractère se maintenait en présence de stress thermique.

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“…Drews 1993). This problem has only been magnified with researchers using different methods for applying the concept of dominance to empirical studies (e.g., direction of aggression: Vestergaard et al 1993; priority of access: Lemel and Wallin 1993; direction of aggression and priority of access : Frank 1986; spatial position and priority of access : Johnsson 1993;weight: Dugatkin and Ohlsen 1990). Consequently, attempts to link dominance and fitness have met with mixed results, causing the evolutionary significance of the dominance concept itself to be called into question (for review: Fedigan 1983).…”

Section: Onfusion and Controversymentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond Dominance: The Importance of Leverage

Lewis

2002

The Quarterly Review of Biology

102

101

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Feather pecking and chronic fear in groups of red junglefowl: their relations to dustbathing, rearing environment and social status

Cited by 151 publications

References 0 publications

Feather eating and its associations with plumage damage and feathers on the floor in commercial farms of laying hens

Feather eating and its associations with plumage damage and feathers on the floor in commercial farms of laying hens

Acute heat-stress effects on physiology and fear-related behaviour in red jungle fowl and domestic fowl

Beyond Dominance: The Importance of Leverage

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