Spatial distribution, movement, body damage, and feather condition of laying hens in a multi-tier system

P Yin; Q Tong; B M Li; W C Zheng; Y Wang; H Q Peng; X L Xue; S Q Wei

doi:10.1016/j.psj.2023.103202

Spatial distribution, movement, body damage, and feather condition of laying hens in a multi-tier system

Poult Sci. 2024 Jan;103(1):103202. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2023.103202. Epub 2023 Oct 15.

Authors

P Yin¹, Q Tong², B M Li³, W C Zheng³, Y Wang³, H Q Peng¹, X L Xue¹, S Q Wei¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Agricultural Structure and Environmental Engineering, College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China.
² Department of Agricultural Structure and Environmental Engineering, College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering in Structure and Environment Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100083, China; Beijing Engineering Research Center on Animal Healthy Environment, Beijing 100083, China. Electronic address: tongqin@cau.edu.cn.
³ Department of Agricultural Structure and Environmental Engineering, College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100083, China; Key Laboratory of Agricultural Engineering in Structure and Environment Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100083, China; Beijing Engineering Research Center on Animal Healthy Environment, Beijing 100083, China.

Abstract

The welfare and health of laying hens in the multitier system raise concern in public. The flock distributions during feeding time at 51 and 89 wk were studied in a multitier system. Furthermore, the ultra-high frequency radio frequency identification (UHF RFID) equipment was used to identify the transition between tiers and time spent in each tier of 48 focal hens (12 hens from each tier-group of the multitier system) at 92 wk of age. The body weight, tibia size (length and width), body damage (comb and rear part), and feather condition (neck, breast, back, tail, cloaca, and wings) of focal hens from different tier-groups were further compared. The results showed that the spatial distribution in flocks changed from top to bottom with increasing age. The hens at 51 wk of age were mainly distributed in the 4th tier (19.6 ± 5.0% in 1st tier, 9.6 ± 1.1% in 2nd tier, 23.6 ± 2.9% in 3rd tier and 47.3 ± 2.6% in 4th tier), and hens at 89 wk of age were mainly distributed in the lower tiers (33.5 ± 1.5% in 1st tier, 31.9 ± 5.1% in 2nd tier, 15.7 ± 3.4% in 3rd tier and 16.6 ± 3.1% in 4th tier). The spatial distribution of hens at 89 wk of age was more even than that at 51 wk of age. At 92 wk of age, the proportion of time spent in original tier of 4 tier-groups was 91.0 ± 5.7%, 51.9 ± 5.7%, 59.0 ± 7.0% and 63.0 ± 6.7%, respectively. Focal hens preferred to stay in the original tier and spent significantly less time in other tiers (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in body weight, body damage score, tibia width and partial feather scores (neck, breast, tail, and cloaca) of focal hens among 4 tier-groups (P > 0.05). However, focal hens from 1st tier had worse feather scores on wings and back, and shorter tibia length compared to other tiers suggesting that there were more lower ranking birds that located in lower tier to avoid competition, but had equal access to resource, which is good for their welfare and health. In summary, the overcrowding situation was improved near the end of the laying cycle in the multitier system, thereby mitigating the potential negative effects to the lower ranking hens and maintain a satisfactory level of welfare and health for laying hens near the end of the laying cycle.

Keywords: UHF RFID; body damage; feather condition; multitier system; spatial distribution.

MeSH terms

Animal Husbandry / methods
Animal Welfare
Animals
Body Weight
Chickens*
Feathers*
Female
Housing, Animal