Keel bone damage in laying hens reared in different production systems in Serbia

Abstract

The European Union in 2012 banned conventional battery cages for the welfare reasons. However, transition to new housing systems uncovered some new problems, such as keel bone damage (KBD), which also could endanger welfare of laying hens. Although KBD is a research topic which attracts a growing attention in the EU, in Serbia it is still rather unknown phenomenon, even among the scientific and professional community. This research is the first attempt to determine the prevalence of KBD in laying hens in housing systems currently existing in Serbia. The results of conducted monitoring show presence of KBD on all observed farms, except the organic one. The occurrence of KBD was at an acceptable level (from the standpoint of hen welfare) in the free-range system, enriched cages without equipment and conventional battery cages (4%, 3% and 1%, respectively), while in the fully equipped enriched cages it was high (39%). One could assume that this high prevalence of KBD in this system is a consequence of a long roosting on a metal perches.

Enhancement of laying hen welfare regulation in Serbia: a lesson to be learned from the EU experience to reduce the prevalence of keel bone damage

“…(2, n = 544)=102,566, p = 0.000 Cramer's V = 0.434). The percentage of farmers and experts who are familiar with the term KBD is much higher (66.7% and 79.0%, respectively) in comparison with citizens (31.8%) but still cannot be assessed as sufficient given the importance of the problem and prevalence of KBD in Serbia (ĐUKIĆ STOJČIĆ et al, 2017;SOSSIDOU et al, 2022). 3).…”

“…Based on a rather scarce number of studies done so far, it can be assumed that the presence of KBD in Serbia is relatively high, especially in enriched cages (ĐUKIĆ STOJČIĆ et al, 2017;SOSSIDOU et al, 2022). At the moment, the share of non-cage systems in the egg sector is quite low, but it can be expected that their participation will grow after the ban on battery cages.…”

“…This was the main driving force behind the ban on conventional battery cages in the EU, which has been in effect since 2012 when commercial egg production has been shifted to enriched cages or non-cage housing systems. However, permitted systems are not free of welfare problems (ELSON and CROXALL, 2006;ĐUKIĆ STOJČIĆ et al, 2017). Consequently, the discussion has begun about the need for a new regulatory change, including reconsidering caging laying hens again (GUYONNET, 2018).…”

Keel Bone Damage in Laying Hens

“…In conventional battery cage systems, a high stocking density is applied, and as highly stocked birds cannot display their natural behaviour, they are exposed to extreme stress. In order to ensure favourable animal welfare conditions and meet consumer demands, the European Union has banned the use of conventional battery cages in egg production as of January 2012, and has shifted to the use of alternative housing systems instead (Anonim 2, 2020;Dukic-Stojcic, 2017;İpek and Sözcü, 2015). Thereby, animals have been granted the freedom to display their natural behaviour.…”

“…Keel bone damage is a major animal welfare concern in commercial egg farms (Harlander-Matauschek et al, 2015). In fact, it is described as an injury with severe economic implications (Dukic-Stojcic et al, 2017). During daytime, laying hens spend most of their time perching.…”