Cargando…

Farm Environmental Enrichments Improve the Welfare of Layer Chicks and Pullets: A Comprehensive Review

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Layer industries that are still using cage housing systems should encourage the provision of appropriate farm enrichments, especially at an early stage. Farm environmental enrichments such as litter, sand, alfalfa bales, chick papers, pecking stones, pecking strings, perches, slopes,...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Xu, Dan, Shu, Gang, Liu, Yanting, Qin, Pingwu, Zheng, Yilei, Tian, Yaofu, Zhao, Xiaoling, Du, Xiaohui
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9559498/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36230351
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12192610
_version_ 1784807653797527552
author Xu, Dan
Shu, Gang
Liu, Yanting
Qin, Pingwu
Zheng, Yilei
Tian, Yaofu
Zhao, Xiaoling
Du, Xiaohui
author_facet Xu, Dan
Shu, Gang
Liu, Yanting
Qin, Pingwu
Zheng, Yilei
Tian, Yaofu
Zhao, Xiaoling
Du, Xiaohui
author_sort Xu, Dan
collection PubMed
description SIMPLE SUMMARY: Layer industries that are still using cage housing systems should encourage the provision of appropriate farm enrichments, especially at an early stage. Farm environmental enrichments such as litter, sand, alfalfa bales, chick papers, pecking stones, pecking strings, perches, slopes, elevated platforms, aviaries and outdoor access reduce feather and skin damage, as well as abdominal fat content. Additionally, they promote the development of the brain and musculoskeletal systems and improve biological function, productivity and product quality with lifelong benefits for hens by continuously exposing them to free access to forage, dust baths and free locomotion. In this review, we summarize several common and effective methods of farm environmental enrichments, including different manipulable materials, structural equipment, and outdoor access, moreover, the competence of the farm staff is a requirement to achieve useful utilization of these farm environmental enrichments that aim to reduce stress and improve the welfare and productivity of layers. Proper farm environmental enrichments benefit the wellbeing of caged birds. ABSTRACT: Currently, cage housing is regarded as a global mainstream production system for laying hens. However, limited living space and confinement of birds in cages cause welfare and health problems, such as feather pecking, osteoporosis, obesity, and premature aging. Many studies have been conducted to alleviate layer welfare problems by providing farm environmental enrichments such as litter, sand, alfalfa bales, chick papers, pecking stones, pecking strings, perches, slopes, elevated platforms, aviaries and outdoor access with a trend towards complex enrichments. The provision of appropriate enrichments continuously attracts layers towards pecking, foraging, dust bathing, and locomotion, thereby giving lifelong benefits to laying hens. Hence, raising chicks and pullets under such conditions may reduce feather and skin damage, as well as accumulation of abdominal fat, and improve several biological features such as health, productivity, quality products, and docility of laying hens. Therefore, providing enrichment during the first few days of the layer’s life without any interruption is crucial. In addition, due to different farm conditions, environmental enrichment should be managed by well-trained farm staff. For example, in preventing feather pecking among the birds, litter materials for foraging are superior to dust bath materials or new items. However, a limited supply of litter creates competition and challenges among birds. Therefore, providing farm environmental enrichment for layers requires proper handling, especially in commercial layer farms. Hence, improving the welfare of chicks and pullets through optimizing on-farm environmental enrichments is essential for production systems practicing cage housing.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9559498
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher MDPI
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-95594982022-10-14 Farm Environmental Enrichments Improve the Welfare of Layer Chicks and Pullets: A Comprehensive Review Xu, Dan Shu, Gang Liu, Yanting Qin, Pingwu Zheng, Yilei Tian, Yaofu Zhao, Xiaoling Du, Xiaohui Animals (Basel) Review SIMPLE SUMMARY: Layer industries that are still using cage housing systems should encourage the provision of appropriate farm enrichments, especially at an early stage. Farm environmental enrichments such as litter, sand, alfalfa bales, chick papers, pecking stones, pecking strings, perches, slopes, elevated platforms, aviaries and outdoor access reduce feather and skin damage, as well as abdominal fat content. Additionally, they promote the development of the brain and musculoskeletal systems and improve biological function, productivity and product quality with lifelong benefits for hens by continuously exposing them to free access to forage, dust baths and free locomotion. In this review, we summarize several common and effective methods of farm environmental enrichments, including different manipulable materials, structural equipment, and outdoor access, moreover, the competence of the farm staff is a requirement to achieve useful utilization of these farm environmental enrichments that aim to reduce stress and improve the welfare and productivity of layers. Proper farm environmental enrichments benefit the wellbeing of caged birds. ABSTRACT: Currently, cage housing is regarded as a global mainstream production system for laying hens. However, limited living space and confinement of birds in cages cause welfare and health problems, such as feather pecking, osteoporosis, obesity, and premature aging. Many studies have been conducted to alleviate layer welfare problems by providing farm environmental enrichments such as litter, sand, alfalfa bales, chick papers, pecking stones, pecking strings, perches, slopes, elevated platforms, aviaries and outdoor access with a trend towards complex enrichments. The provision of appropriate enrichments continuously attracts layers towards pecking, foraging, dust bathing, and locomotion, thereby giving lifelong benefits to laying hens. Hence, raising chicks and pullets under such conditions may reduce feather and skin damage, as well as accumulation of abdominal fat, and improve several biological features such as health, productivity, quality products, and docility of laying hens. Therefore, providing enrichment during the first few days of the layer’s life without any interruption is crucial. In addition, due to different farm conditions, environmental enrichment should be managed by well-trained farm staff. For example, in preventing feather pecking among the birds, litter materials for foraging are superior to dust bath materials or new items. However, a limited supply of litter creates competition and challenges among birds. Therefore, providing farm environmental enrichment for layers requires proper handling, especially in commercial layer farms. Hence, improving the welfare of chicks and pullets through optimizing on-farm environmental enrichments is essential for production systems practicing cage housing. MDPI 2022-09-29 /pmc/articles/PMC9559498/ /pubmed/36230351 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12192610 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
Xu, Dan
Shu, Gang
Liu, Yanting
Qin, Pingwu
Zheng, Yilei
Tian, Yaofu
Zhao, Xiaoling
Du, Xiaohui
Farm Environmental Enrichments Improve the Welfare of Layer Chicks and Pullets: A Comprehensive Review
title Farm Environmental Enrichments Improve the Welfare of Layer Chicks and Pullets: A Comprehensive Review
title_full Farm Environmental Enrichments Improve the Welfare of Layer Chicks and Pullets: A Comprehensive Review
title_fullStr Farm Environmental Enrichments Improve the Welfare of Layer Chicks and Pullets: A Comprehensive Review
title_full_unstemmed Farm Environmental Enrichments Improve the Welfare of Layer Chicks and Pullets: A Comprehensive Review
title_short Farm Environmental Enrichments Improve the Welfare of Layer Chicks and Pullets: A Comprehensive Review
title_sort farm environmental enrichments improve the welfare of layer chicks and pullets: a comprehensive review
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9559498/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36230351
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ani12192610
work_keys_str_mv AT xudan farmenvironmentalenrichmentsimprovethewelfareoflayerchicksandpulletsacomprehensivereview
AT shugang farmenvironmentalenrichmentsimprovethewelfareoflayerchicksandpulletsacomprehensivereview
AT liuyanting farmenvironmentalenrichmentsimprovethewelfareoflayerchicksandpulletsacomprehensivereview
AT qinpingwu farmenvironmentalenrichmentsimprovethewelfareoflayerchicksandpulletsacomprehensivereview
AT zhengyilei farmenvironmentalenrichmentsimprovethewelfareoflayerchicksandpulletsacomprehensivereview
AT tianyaofu farmenvironmentalenrichmentsimprovethewelfareoflayerchicksandpulletsacomprehensivereview
AT zhaoxiaoling farmenvironmentalenrichmentsimprovethewelfareoflayerchicksandpulletsacomprehensivereview
AT duxiaohui farmenvironmentalenrichmentsimprovethewelfareoflayerchicksandpulletsacomprehensivereview