Identifying welfare issues in turkey hen and tom flocks applying the transect walk method

Marchewka, Joanna; Vasdal, Guro; Moe, Randi Oppermann

doi:10.3382/ps/pez211

Cited by 11 publications

(29 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Both hens and toms were assessed using the transect walk method on the same day, but only data from the hens will be presented here. Results from the transect walks in flocks of hens and toms have been reported previously ( Marchewka et al., 2019 ). The farms were randomly selected from the slaughter lists, and all flocks were visited when the birds were between 76 and 83 D of age.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 53%

“…The underlying causes for featherlessness are not fully understood in turkeys. Previous studies found that featherlessness is a common issue in both turkey hens and toms ( Marchewka et al., 2019 ) and could partly be due to the severe feather pecking, known as a type of injurious pecking in turkeys ( Dalton et al., 2013 ), which often targets subordinate birds ( Buchwalder and Huber-Eicher, 2003 ). Flocks with more featherless birds in the present study were characterized by a higher rejection rate owing to airsacculitis and heart issues.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Another study using the transect walk method in Italian turkey flocks found similar results ( Ferrante et al., 2019 ). Interestingly, both studies found a higher prevalence of welfare challenges such as lameness, wounds, and dirtiness ( Ferrante et al., 2019 ) and more tail wounds and sick birds ( Marchewka et al., 2019 ) in toms than in hens. However, although the transect method is a practical tool, it is not feasible to visit all the turkey flocks before slaughter.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The last week before the hens are slaughtered is generally considered a challenging time, when the barn is at its maximum capacity with regard to the number of animals, ventilation capacity, litter quality, and animal care ( Martrenchar, 1999 ). A previous study using the transect walk method to assess welfare in Norwegian flocks of turkeys hens and toms at this time (11 wk of age) found that the most prevalent welfare challenges across sexes were dirty and featherless birds and birds with tail and wing wounds ( Marchewka et al., 2019 ). Another study using the transect walk method in Italian turkey flocks found similar results ( Ferrante et al., 2019 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is an increasing demand for a continuous documentation of animal welfare status in commercial meat production industry ( European Commission, 2005 , 2017 ). Recently, transect walks have been found to be a feasible, practical, and validated method for assessing on-farm welfare in broilers ( Marchewka et al., 2013 ; 2019 ; BenSassi et al., 2019 ) and turkeys ( Marchewka et al., 2015 , 2019 ; Ferrante et al., 2019 ). This method is based on line transect methodology, a technique routinely used in ecological studies to estimate animal biodiversity and abundance ( Butler et al., 2007 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Associations between on-farm welfare measures and slaughterhouse data in commercial flocks of turkey hens (Meleagris gallopavo)

2020

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There is a growing demand for documentation of animal welfare in meat production industry. Research on turkey welfare has mainly focused on toms at the end of production cycle, and information on the relationship between on-farm welfare and slaughterhouse recordings for turkey hens is currently lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between routinely collected slaughterhouse data from turkey hens and their on-farm welfare measured by transect walks, to identify potential retrospective welfare indicators. The study was conducted between November 2017 and March 2018 in 20 commercial turkey flocks in Norway. On-farm welfare was evaluated using the transect walk method when the turkey hens were 11 wk old, recording the number of birds that were immobile, lame, small, featherless, dirty, sick, terminal, or dead and had visible head, tail, or wing wounds. Slaughterhouse data was provided for each flock. Univariate and multivariate linear regression models were used to investigate the associations between the variables. The results showed significant associations between several measures on farm and at slaughter. Flocks with more lameness on farm had more birds rejected at the slaughterhouse owing to leg and joint issues ( P = 0.03, r = 1.01). Featherlessness and dirtiness on farm were positively associated with airsacculitis ( P = 0.005; r = 0.42 and P = 0.0008; r = 0.57, respectively). The results suggest that slaughterhouse registrations may provide both practical and feasible retrospective information on the welfare of turkey hens that potentially could be implemented in future welfare assessment schemes. Further studies are needed to investigate the causal factors behind the identified relationships.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 53%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Associations between on-farm welfare measures and slaughterhouse data in commercial flocks of turkey hens (Meleagris gallopavo)

2020

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On-farm welfare assessment of commercial Pekin ducks: a comparison of methods

2020

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Although a number of welfare assessment methods have been developed for poultry, none have been evaluated for use in commercial duck farms. The primary objective of the study was to evaluate the inter-rater reliability and relative accuracy of 4 duck welfare assessment strategies. Over 2 experiments, 12 flocks of commercial meat ducks (5,850 to 6,300 ducks/flock) aged 30 to 34 D were evaluated. During experiment 1, six flocks were evaluated using 2 welfare assessment methods: transect walks ( TW ) and catch-and-inspect ( CAI ). During TW, 2 observers walked predetermined transects along the length of the house and recorded the number of ducks per transect that were featherless, were dirty, were lethargic, had bloody feathers, had infected eyes, and/or had plugged nostrils or were found dead. During CAI, a total of 150 ducks per flock were corralled and individually evaluated. The same welfare indicators were assessed using both methods. During experiment 2, six flocks were initially evaluated using CAI, TW, and a distance evaluation ( DE ; a total of 50 ducks per flock evaluated from a walking distance) and then reassessed within 24 h during the loadout ( LO ) process. Data were analyzed in SAS (version 9.4) to determine the observer and method effects on the incidence of welfare indicators. Interobserver reliability was high ( P > 0.05) across methods for most welfare indicators. The assessment method affected the measured outcome variables in both experiments ( P < 0.05). CAI resulted in higher estimated incidences of most welfare indicators than TW (experiment 1 and 2) and LO (experiment 2). DE yielded intermediate results compared with other methods (experiment 2). Results obtained using TW and LO were most similar, the only difference being the number of dead birds observed using each method ( P < 0.0001). The average time required for CAI, TW, DE, and LO was 2.40 ± 0.004, 1.12 ± 0.02, 1.54 ± 0.001, 3.56 ± 0.006 h, respectively. Bootstrapping analyses showed that the observed welfare indicator prevalence estimates were affected by the number of transects (TW) and number of birds (CAI) sampled.

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Research Note: Injurious pecking in fattening turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo f. dom.)—video analyses of triggering factors and behavioral sequences in small flocks of male turkeys

et al. 2020

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Injurious pecking is one of the main welfare issues in fattening turkey husbandry. Birds pecked by conspecifics can suffer from serious injuries that may even lead to the death of the victimized animals or require their culling. In the present study, the behavior of male turkeys was documented day and night using video recordings throughout the entire fattening period of 19 wk. Thus, when a turkey was found injured or dead in the barn, a retrospective analysis of video recordings was carried out to clarify the circumstances surrounding the death or injuries of the bird in the present study. In 3 fattening trials with a total of 1,620 male turkeys with intact beaks, 41 birds (2.5%) were found either seriously injured (n = 24) or dead (n = 17) in the barn as a result from conspecific pecking. The detailed evaluation of the video recordings showed that the onset of injurious pecking was mainly in the afternoon after the last daily visual controls of animals and that one third of the dead found animals died a natural death without any pecking incidents. The duration of injurious pecking directed against a certain conspecific was on average 794 min, ranging from 84 min to 1,437 min, that is up to almost an entire day. Pecking activities lasting more than 10 h were interrupted from the light regime between dusk and dawn but continued with the onset of light in the morning. Duration of injurious pecking events decreased with age ( P = 0.031). If the victims laid down or were impaired in their mobility, they would be surrounded by up to 10 turkeys that would still be forcefully pecking at the occipital and neck area of the badly injured or moribund birds.

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Identifying welfare issues in turkey hen and tom flocks applying the transect walk method

Cited by 11 publications

References 35 publications

Associations between on-farm welfare measures and slaughterhouse data in commercial flocks of turkey hens (Meleagris gallopavo)

Associations between on-farm welfare measures and slaughterhouse data in commercial flocks of turkey hens (Meleagris gallopavo)

On-farm welfare assessment of commercial Pekin ducks: a comparison of methods

Research Note: Injurious pecking in fattening turkeys (Meleagris gallopavo f. dom.)—video analyses of triggering factors and behavioral sequences in small flocks of male turkeys

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