Feather pecking and related behavioural characteristics in laying hens
Feather pecking is a major welfare and economic problem in laying hens. It is characterised by pecking at- and pulling out of feathers of conspecifics. A bird's propensity to develop feather pecking may be related with other behavioural characteristics, such as reaction to frustration (the omission of expected reward) and social motivation. Furthermore, differences in feather pecking between lines indicate that genetic background plays an important role.In this thesis, the relationship between feather pecking and other behavioural characteristics was studied in two lines that differed in feather pecking behaviour: the high (HFP) and low (LFP) feather pecking lines. The importance of the social environment was evaluated in an experiment where different tests to measure feather pecking were compared. Furthermore, the reaction to frustration was studied in these lines and it was studied whether frustration can facilitate feather pecking directly. In a behaviour genetics study, it was studied whether behavioural traits measured at young age were predictive of feather pecking at adult age.It was found that the social environment plays an important role in the development of feather pecking. Pecking at a bunch of feathers in an individual context is not comparable with feather pecking in a social group. Although HFP and LFP lines showed differences in reaction to frustration, short-term frustration in a Skinnerbox could not facilitate feather pecking. Finally open-field behaviour at young age was found to be predictive of pecking behaviour at adult age. These results were used to develop a model on the relationship between feather pecking and other behavioural characteristics, that may be helpful to solve the problem of feather pecking in laying hens.
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| Format: | Doctoral thesis biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | abnormal behaviour, animal behaviour, animal welfare, feather pecking, genetic parameters, hens, heritability, individual characteristics, line differences, poultry, abnormaal gedrag, dierenwelzijn, diergedrag, genetische parameters, hennen, individuele kenmerken, lijnverschillen, pluimvee, verenpikken, |
| Online Access: | https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/feather-pecking-and-related-behavioural-characteristics-in-laying |
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