Water off a duck's back: Showers and troughs match ponds for improving duck welfare

Jones, Tracey; Waitt, Corri; Dawkins, Marian Stamp

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2008.07.008

Cited by 41 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Other recent studies have focused on small groups of ducks (e.g., n = 4; Jones et al, 2009); thus, the results may not be transferable to situations in which birds are managed with much less space per duck at the resource (e.g., in that study, ducks had a space allowance of 800 mm/bird at a bath and 538 mm/bird at a trough). The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (1987) and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (2009) state that a space of at least 5 mm/duck must be provided at the water resource, and Dawkins (2008) reported an average of between 5.3 and 6.1 mm/duck currently in use in the United Kingdom duck industry.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Access to open water is consid-ered good for duck health, particularly for eye and nostril health and hygiene of the plumage (Knierim et al, 2004). Jones et al (2009) found evidence that duck welfare is related to the nature and extent of their access to water: ducks that were provided with only nipple drinkers were unable to keep their eyes, nostrils, and feathers fully clean. Access to open water is necessary for ducks to perform several behaviors that are part of their natural behavior (e.g., head dipping and wing flapping in association with water).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Does access to open water affect the health of Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos)?

O’Driscoll

Broom

2011

Poultry Science

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Access to open water is considered good for the welfare of Pekin ducks. These studies investigated the effect that the type of water resource, provided over either straw bedding or a rubber mesh, had on measures of duck health. Pekin strain ducklings (n = 2,600) were managed in pens of 100 on straw over a solid concrete floor. In study 1, one of two water resources (nipple, n = 5 pens; wide-lip bell drinker, n = 5 pens), was located directly over the straw. In study 2, one of three water resources (narrow-lip bell drinker, n = 6 pens; trough, n = 5 pens; and bath, n = 5 pens) was located over a rubber mesh. On d 16, 24, 29, 35, and 43, (study 1) or d 21, 29, 35, and 43 posthatch (study 2), 10 birds were selected from each pen and weighed, and then feather hygiene, footpad dermatitis, eye health, gait score, and nostril condition scores were taken. Treatment had no effect on BW in either study, but in study 2, ducks in the open water treatments had higher scores (P < 0.001) than those in the narrow-lip bell drinker treatment by d 43. In study 1, treatment had no effect on hygiene scores, but scores increased over time (P < 0.001). In study 2, ducks in the narrow-lip bell drinker treatment were dirtier than those in the bath treatment (P = 0.01), with those in the trough treatment being intermediate. In both studies, ducks with bell drinkers had worse gait scores than those in the other treatments (study 1, P < 0.01; study 2, P < 0.05). Treatment had no effect on eye health scores. However, ducks were less likely to have dirty nostrils when provided with more open water resources in both studies (P < 0.01), or were less likely to have blocked nostrils in the trough and bath treatments than in the narrow-lip bell drinker treatment in study 2 (P = 0.01). Provision of open water, particularly over a properly constructed drainage area, improved some aspects of duck health (improved feather hygiene and BW, and fewer dirty and blocked nostrils). However, further work is needed to investigate these treatments on a commercial scale.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Does access to open water affect the health of Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos)?

O’Driscoll

Broom

2011

Poultry Science

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“…These welfare traits consisted of daily behaviour, feather condition score, gait score and fluctuating asymmetry. Daily behaviour consisted of moving, playing, drinking, bathing and feather pecking (Jones et al, 2009;Amado et al, 2011). Before observation began, three people were trained for three days in recording behaviour to minimize variation.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Production System on Welfare Traits, Growth Performance and Meat Quality of Ducks

Chen¹,

Chen²,

Feng³

et al. 2015

SA J. An. Sci.

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The effects of production system on welfare traits, growth performance and meat quality of ducks were explored. A total of 120 newly hatched ducklings were randomly assigned to three groups: i) floor-reared system (FRS); ii) welfare-reared system (WRS) and iii) net-reared system (NRS) (n = 8 ducklings/pen, 5 pens/group). In the FRS, ducks were reared on sawdust bedding that was changed every 2 -3 days. The WRS was similar to the FRS, the difference being the addition of environmental enrichment devices such as perches, coloured balloons and ribbons. In the NRS, ducks were reared on plastic nets on a bamboo bed, and their droppings were cleaned daily with water. After 35 d, welfare traits, growth performance and meat quality of the ducks were measured. Moving and playing durations of WRS ducks were longer than FRS and NRS ducks. Bathing and feather pecking durations of NRS ducks were longer than FRS and WRS ducks. Duck feather quality was greater and gait defects were reduced in NRS system compared with FRS and WRS systems. Fluctuating asymmetry (FA) was not affected by the production system. Growth performance was not significantly different between FRS and WRS systems. Average daily weight gain of FRS ducks was higher than in NRS ducks. Feed conversion ratio of FRS ducks was lower than in NRS ducks. There was no difference in acidity, conductivity of pectoralis and leg muscle, and drip loss among the production systems. The conclusion was that NRS proved to be the best production system on welfare traits, while WRS and FRS were the best production systems on growth performance. ______________________________________________________________________________________

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“…But if they are carried out as part of an 'experiment', they may have to be licensed. For example, a study on the welfare of ducks that had one group reared without access to bathing water (as happens on some commercial farms) had to be licensed (Jones et al, 2009). The current regulations on carrying out commercial scale experiments such as the stocking density study is far from clear and this may be a barrier to further work in the future.…”

Section: Commercial Assessment Of Poultry Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

Commercial scale research and assessment of poultry welfare

Dawkins

2012

British Poultry Science

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1. Commercial level research on poultry welfare is increasingly important because of the insight it gives into what improves welfare in the context of other important drivers such as human health, environmental impact and cost. 2. There are, however, a number of problems with conducting commercial level research - such as conflicts over aims, financial compensation and legal issues - that need to be addressed if the gains from commercial research are to be optimized. Cooperation between all parties and mutual understanding of the different priorities that may exist between industry and academia are essential. 3. Three important developments for the future are: the setting up of a 'data bank', the application of new statistical methods for analyzing data and new technology for assessing welfare automatically.

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Water off a duck's back: Showers and troughs match ponds for improving duck welfare

Cited by 41 publications

References 8 publications

Does access to open water affect the health of Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos)?

Does access to open water affect the health of Pekin ducks (Anas platyrhynchos)?

Effect of Production System on Welfare Traits, Growth Performance and Meat Quality of Ducks

Commercial scale research and assessment of poultry welfare

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