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Effects of Key Farm Management Practices on Pullets Welfare—A Review

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Studies on animal behavior and welfare have reported that improving the management practices of pullets can enhance their growth, as well as their physical and mental condition, thus benefiting the productivity of laying hens. Therefore, in this review, we elaborated on the key effec...

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Autores principales: Du, Xiaohui, Qin, Pingwu, Liu, Yanting, Amevor, Felix Kwame, Shu, Gang, Li, Diyan, Zhao, Xiaoling
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8944683/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35327126
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12060729
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author Du, Xiaohui
Qin, Pingwu
Liu, Yanting
Amevor, Felix Kwame
Shu, Gang
Li, Diyan
Zhao, Xiaoling
author_facet Du, Xiaohui
Qin, Pingwu
Liu, Yanting
Amevor, Felix Kwame
Shu, Gang
Li, Diyan
Zhao, Xiaoling
author_sort Du, Xiaohui
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: Studies on animal behavior and welfare have reported that improving the management practices of pullets can enhance their growth, as well as their physical and mental condition, thus benefiting the productivity of laying hens. Therefore, in this review, we elaborated on the key effective farm management measures, including housing type and matching, flock status, and environmental management and enrichment, to provide the necessary information to incorporate welfare into chicken rearing and its importance in production, with the aim of improving the quantity and quality of chicken products. ABSTRACT: Studies on animal behavior and welfare have reported that improving the management practices of pullets can enhance their growth, as well as their physical and mental condition, thus benefiting the productivity of laying hens. There is growing confidence in the international community to abandon the conventional practices of “cage-rearing and beak-trimming” to improve the welfare of chickens. Therefore, in this review, we summarized some of the effective poultry management practices that have provided welfare benefits for pullets. The results are as follows: 1. Maintaining similar housing conditions at different periods alleviates fear and discomfort among pullets; 2. Pullets reared under cage-free systems have better physical conditions and temperaments than those reared in cage systems, and they are more suitable to be transferred to similar housing to lay eggs; 3. Improving flock uniformity in appearance and body size has reduced the risk of pecking and injury; 4. Maintaining an appropriate population (40–500 birds) has reduced flock aggressiveness; 5. A combination of 8–10 h of darkness and 5–30 lux of light-intensity exposure via natural or warm white LED light has achieved a welfare–performance balance in pullets. (This varies by age, strain, and activities.); 6. Dark brooders (mimicking mother hens) have alleviated fear and pecking behaviors in pullets; 7. The air quality of the chicken house has been effectively improved by optimizing feed formulation and ventilation, and by reducing fecal accumulation and fermentation; 8. Complex environments (with litter, perches, straw bales, slopes, platforms, outdoor access, etc.) have stimulated the activities of chickens and have produced good welfare effects. In conclusion, the application of comprehensive management strategies has improved the physical and mental health of pullets, which has, in turn, improved the quantity and quality of poultry products.
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spelling pubmed-89446832022-03-25 Effects of Key Farm Management Practices on Pullets Welfare—A Review Du, Xiaohui Qin, Pingwu Liu, Yanting Amevor, Felix Kwame Shu, Gang Li, Diyan Zhao, Xiaoling Animals (Basel) Review SIMPLE SUMMARY: Studies on animal behavior and welfare have reported that improving the management practices of pullets can enhance their growth, as well as their physical and mental condition, thus benefiting the productivity of laying hens. Therefore, in this review, we elaborated on the key effective farm management measures, including housing type and matching, flock status, and environmental management and enrichment, to provide the necessary information to incorporate welfare into chicken rearing and its importance in production, with the aim of improving the quantity and quality of chicken products. ABSTRACT: Studies on animal behavior and welfare have reported that improving the management practices of pullets can enhance their growth, as well as their physical and mental condition, thus benefiting the productivity of laying hens. There is growing confidence in the international community to abandon the conventional practices of “cage-rearing and beak-trimming” to improve the welfare of chickens. Therefore, in this review, we summarized some of the effective poultry management practices that have provided welfare benefits for pullets. The results are as follows: 1. Maintaining similar housing conditions at different periods alleviates fear and discomfort among pullets; 2. Pullets reared under cage-free systems have better physical conditions and temperaments than those reared in cage systems, and they are more suitable to be transferred to similar housing to lay eggs; 3. Improving flock uniformity in appearance and body size has reduced the risk of pecking and injury; 4. Maintaining an appropriate population (40–500 birds) has reduced flock aggressiveness; 5. A combination of 8–10 h of darkness and 5–30 lux of light-intensity exposure via natural or warm white LED light has achieved a welfare–performance balance in pullets. (This varies by age, strain, and activities.); 6. Dark brooders (mimicking mother hens) have alleviated fear and pecking behaviors in pullets; 7. The air quality of the chicken house has been effectively improved by optimizing feed formulation and ventilation, and by reducing fecal accumulation and fermentation; 8. Complex environments (with litter, perches, straw bales, slopes, platforms, outdoor access, etc.) have stimulated the activities of chickens and have produced good welfare effects. In conclusion, the application of comprehensive management strategies has improved the physical and mental health of pullets, which has, in turn, improved the quantity and quality of poultry products. MDPI 2022-03-14 /pmc/articles/PMC8944683/ /pubmed/35327126 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12060729 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Du, Xiaohui
Qin, Pingwu
Liu, Yanting
Amevor, Felix Kwame
Shu, Gang
Li, Diyan
Zhao, Xiaoling
Effects of Key Farm Management Practices on Pullets Welfare—A Review
title Effects of Key Farm Management Practices on Pullets Welfare—A Review
title_full Effects of Key Farm Management Practices on Pullets Welfare—A Review
title_fullStr Effects of Key Farm Management Practices on Pullets Welfare—A Review
title_full_unstemmed Effects of Key Farm Management Practices on Pullets Welfare—A Review
title_short Effects of Key Farm Management Practices on Pullets Welfare—A Review
title_sort effects of key farm management practices on pullets welfare—a review
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8944683/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35327126
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12060729
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