Sex Link Black and Rhode Island Red hens with access to grazing: Productivity and behavior
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15517/am.v32i2.42487Keywords:
hens pecking, productive performance, feed conversion, egg productions, pasture managementAbstract
Introduction. Learning about the productive and behavior indicators of poultry allows optimizing the pasture access system. Objective. Describe performance, pasture management, and behavior of Rhode Island Red (RIR) and Sex Link Black (SLB) hens in a lodging system on a floor with pasture access. Materials and methods. The research took place in Turrialba, in the province of Cartago, between October 2016 and January 2018, with 210 SLB and 180 RIR hens, aged from 13 to 80 weeks. Body weight, uniformity, mortality, discard, and weekly production percentage, hen housed egg production, feed conversion, feed intake, natural behavior, egg weight and egg mass, were obtained. Pasture management in pasture areas, forage availability, leaf/stem ratio, and the behavior of the poultry in the parks were described. Results. Lower production performance of the SLB and RIR were observed when compared to the Isa Brown genetic line, only the weight of the egg was higher for the RIR hens. Food waste was observed in both groups of birds, the main cause of death was the discard of subordinate birds, pecking, and cannibalism. The most commonly observed behaviors were scratching, pecking, and sand baths. When SLB and RIR poultry entered the parks, fodder production of 5033 and 3460 kg MF GM ha-1 was recorded, respectively. A leaf/stem ratio of >1 was obtained, which reflected a higher preference of the hens for the leaves when grazing. Conclusion. In the flat housing system with access to grazing, the assessed birds displayed low production performance, stress from the heat, loss of feathers due to pecking, cannibalism, and food waste. The production system with access to pasture under the conditions studied was not optimal for the hens used.
Downloads
References
Aerni, V., Brinkhof, M. W. G., Wechsler, B., Oester, H., & Fröhlich, E. (2005). Productivity and mortality of laying hens in aviaries: A systematic review. World’s Poultry Science Journal, 61(1), 130–142. https://doi.org/10.1079/WPS200450
Ambrosen, T., & Petersen, V. (1997). The influence of protein level in the diet on cannibalism and quality of plumage of layers. Poultry Science, 76(4), 559–563. https://doi.org/10.1093/ps/76.4.559
Appleby, M. C., Mench, J. A., & Hughes, B. O. (2004). Poultry behaviour and welfare. CAB International Publishing.
Bábolna TETRA. (2020, March 30). Tetra. Selected for quality. https://www.babolnatetra.com/en/home/
Bell, D. D., & Weaver, W. D. (2002). Commercial chicken meat and egg production (5th Ed.) Kluwer Academic Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-0811-3
Calik, J. (2014). Effect of length of productive life of Rhode Island Red (R-11) hens on their performance and egg quality. Acta Scientiarum Polonorum Zootechnica, 13(1), 39–50.
Chielo, L. I., Pike, T., & Cooper, J. (2016). Ranging behaviour of commercial free-range laying hens. Animals, 6(5), 6050028. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani6050028
de-Koning, C., Kitessa, S.M., Barekatain, R., & Drake, K. (2019). Determination of range enrichment for improved hen welfare on commercial fixed-range free-range layer farms. Animal Production Science, 59(7), 1336–1348. https://doi.org/10.1071/AN17757
Dominant CZ. (2020, March 30). Dominant egro D 109. https://old.dominant-cz.cz/produkt/dominant-negro-d-109/?lang=es
Fijn, L., van der Staay, F. J., Goerlich-Jansson, V. C., & Arndt, S. S. (2020). Importance of basic research on the causes of feather pecking in relation to welfare. Animals, 10(2), Article 213. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani10020213
Food and Agriculture Organization, & Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department. (2013). Poultry development review. http://www.fao.org/3/i3531e/i3531e.pdf
Frikha, M., Safaa, H. M., Serrano, M. P., Arbe, X., & Mateos, G. G. (2009). Influence of the main cereal and feed form of the diet on performance and digestive tract traits of brown-egg laying pullets. Poultry Science, 88(5), 994–1002. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.2008-00480
Gebhardt-Henrich, S. G., Toscano, M. J., & Fröhlich, E. K. F. (2014). Use of outdoor ranges by laying hens in different sized flocks. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 155, 74–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2014.03.010
Harlander-Matauschek, A., Felsenstein, K., Niebuhr, K., & Troxler, J. (2006). Influence of pop hole dimensions on the number of laying hens outside on the range. British Poultry Science, 47(2), 131–134. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071660600610591
Hayat, A., Basheer, A., Zahoor, I., & Mahmud, A. (2014). Free-range rearing system and its impact on production and consumption of poultry: A review. Science International (Lahore), 26(3), 1297-1300.
Hegelund, L., Sørensen, J. T., & Hermansen, J. E. (2006). Welfare and productivity of laying hens in commercial organic egg production systems in Denmark. NJAS-Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences, 54(2),147–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1573-5214(06)80018-7
Hendrix Genetics Corporate-Laying Hen Breeding. (2020, March 30). Laying hen breeding. https://www.hendrix-genetics.com/en/animalbreeding/laying-hen-breeding/
Hudson, B. P., Lien, R. J., & Hess, J. B. (2001). Effects of body weight uniformity and pre-peak feeding programs on broiler breeder hen performance. Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 10(1), 24–32. https://doi.org/10.1093/japr/10.1.24
Hy-line. (2018, 12 de abril) Entendiendo el estrés calórico en las gallinas ponedoras: Consejos de Manejo para Mejorar el Rendimiento del Lote en Climas Cálido. http://www.hyline.com/userdocs/pages/TU_HEAT_SPN.pdf
Hy-line. (2020, April 12). Page, chickens, genetics, poultry, eggs, diseases, technology, breeds, farming, egg production. https://www.hyline.com/technical-resources
Industria Avícola (2020, 28 de marzo). Baja producción de pollo en Latinoamerica, sube la de huevo. https://www.industriaavicola-digital.com/industriaavicola/201904/MobilePagedReplica.action?pm=2&folio=4#pg6
ISA Brown. (2020, March 30). ISA Brown, Technical support. https://layinghens.hendrix-genetics.com/en/technical-support/
Klein, T., Zeltner, E., & Huber-Eicher, B. (2000). Are genetic differences in foraging behaviour of laying hen chicks paralleled by hybrid-speci®c differences in feather pecking? Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 70(2), 143-155. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0168-1591(00)00147-7
Lara, L. J., & Rostagno, M. H. (2013). Impact of heat stress on poultry production. Animals, 3(2), 356–369. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani3020356
Leenstra, F., Napel, J. T., Visscher, J., & Sambeek, F. V. (2016). Layer breeding programmes in changing production environments: A historic perspective. World’s Poultry Science Journal, 72(1), 21–36. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043933915002743
Lorenz, C., Kany, T., & Grashorn, M. (2013). Method to estimate feed intake from pasture in broilers and laying hens. Archiv Für Geflügelkunde, 77, 160–165.
Luiting, P. (1990). Genetic variation of energy partitioning in laying hens: Causes of variation in residual feed consumption. World’s Poultry Science Journal, 46(2),133–152. https://doi.org/10.1079/WPS19900017
Miao, Z. H., Glatz, P. C., & Ru, Y. J. (2005). Free-range poultry production—A review. Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences, 18(1), 113–132. https://doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2005.113
Quesada, R. (2007, 24-25 de agosto). Los bosques de Costa Rica. lX Congreso Nacional de Ciencias, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica, Cartago, Costa Rica. http://www.cientec.or.cr/exploraciones/ponencias2007/RupertoQuesada.pdf
Riber, A. B., Casey-Trott, T. M., & Herskin, M. S. (2018). The influence of keel bone damage on welfare of laying hens. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 5, Article 6. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2018.00006
Rodenburg, T. B., Tuyttens, F. A. M., Sonck, B., de Reu, K., Herman, L. & Zoons, J. (2005) Welfare, health and hygiene of laying hens housed in furnished cages and in alternativa housing systems. Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, 8(3), 211-226. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327604jaws0803_
Schulman, N., Tuiskula-Haavisto, M., Siitonen, L., & Mäntysaari, E. A. (1994). Genetic variation of residual feed consumption in a selected finish egg-layer population. Poultry Science, 73(10), 1479–1484. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.0731479
Sedlačková, M., Bilčík, B., & Košťál, Ľ. (2004). Feather pecking in laying hens: environmental and endogenous factors. Acta Veterinaria Brno, 73(4), 521–531. https://doi.org/10.2754/avb200473040521
Shimmura, T., Suzuki, T., Hirahara, S., Eguchi, Y., Uetake, K., & Tanaka, T. (2008). Pecking behaviour of laying hens in single-tiered aviaries with and without outdoor area. British Poultry Science, 49(4), 396–401. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071660802262043
Silversides, F. G., Shaver, D. M., & Song, Y. (2007). Pure line laying chickens at the Agassiz Research Centre. Animal Genetic Resources, 40, 79–85. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1014233900002224
Singh, R., Cheng, K. M., & Silversides, F. G. (2009). Production performance and egg quality of four strains of laying hens kept in conventional cages and floor pens. Poultry Science, 88(2), 256–264. https://doi.org/10.3382/ps.2008-00237
Sosnówka-Czajka, E., Herbut, E., & Skomorucha, I. (2010). Effect of different housing systems on productivity and welfare of laying hens. Annals of Animal Science, 10(4), 349–360.
Stadig, L. M., Rodenburg, T. B., Ampe, B., Reubens, B., & Tuyttens, F. A. M. (2017). Effect of free-range access, shelter type and weather conditions on free-range use and welfare of slow-growing broiler chickens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 192, 15–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2016.11.008
Thiruvenkadan, A. K., Panneerselvam, S., & Prabakaran, R. (2010). Layer breeding strategies: An overview. World’s Poultry Science Journal, 66(3), 477–502. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0043933910000553
Walker, A., & Gordon, S. (2003). Intake of nutrients from pasture by poultry. Proceedings of the Nutrition Society, 62(2), 253–256. https://doi.org/10.1079/PNS2002198
Weeks, C., Lambton, S. & Willians, A. (2016). Implications for welfare, productivity and sustainability of the variation in reported levels of mortality for laying hen flocks kept in different housing systems: A meta-analysis of ten studies. PLoSONE, 11(1), Article e0146394. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal. pone.0146394
Zeltner, E., & Hirt, H. (2003). Effect of artificial structuring on the use of laying hen runs in a free-range system. British Poultry Science, 44(4), 533–537. https://doi.org/10.1080/00071660310001616264
Additional Files
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Ana Cruz-Bermúdez, Rodolfo WingChing-Jones, Rebeca Zamora-Sanabria (Autor/a)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
1. Proposed policy for open access journals
Authors who publish in this journal accept the following conditions:
a. Authors retain the copyright and assign to the journal the right to the first publication, with the work registered under the attribution, non-commercial and no-derivative license from Creative Commons, which allows third parties to use what has been published as long as they mention the authorship of the work and upon first publication in this journal, the work may not be used for commercial purposes and the publications may not be used to remix, transform or create another work.
b. Authors may enter into additional independent contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the version of the article published in this journal (e.g., including it in an institutional repository or publishing it in a book) provided that they clearly indicate that the work was first published in this journal.
c. Authors are permitted and encouraged to publish their work on the Internet (e.g. on institutional or personal pages) before and during the review and publication process, as it may lead to productive exchanges and faster and wider dissemination of published work (see The Effect of Open Access).
How to Cite
