THE LAYING HEN AND ITS ENVIRONMENT

THE LAYING HEN AND ITS ENVIRONMENT

CURRENT TOPICS IN VETERINARY MEDICINE AND ANIMAL SCIENCE VOLUME 8 Other titles in this series Volume I Control of Reproduction in the Cow edited by J.M. Sreenan Volume 2 Patterns of Growth and Development in Cattle edited by H. de Boer and J. Martin Volume 3 Respiratory Diseases in Cattle edited by W.B. Martin Volume 4 Calving Problems and Early Viability of the Calf edited by B. Hoffmann, I.L. Mason and J. Schmidt Volume 5 The Future of Beef Production in the European Community edited by J.C. Bowman and P. Susmel Volume 6 Diseases of Cattle in the Tropics: Economic and Zoonotic Relevance edited by M. Ristic Volume 7 Control of Reproductive Functions in Domestic Animals edited by W. Jochle and D.R. Lamond Series ISBN: 90-247-2429-5

The Laying Hen and its Environment A Seminar in the EEC Programme of Coordination of Research on Animal Welfare, organised by R. Moss and V. Fischbach, and held at Luxembourg, March 11-13, 1980 Sponsored by the Commission of the European Communities, Directorate-General for Agriculture, Coordination of Agricultural Research edited by R. MOSS Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, London, United Kingdom 1980 MARTINUS NIJHOFF PUBLISHERS THE HAGUE I BOSTON I LONDON for THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

Distributors for the United States and Canada Kluwer Boston, Inc. 190 Old Derby Street Hingham, MA 02043 USA for all other countries Kluwer Academic Publishers Group Distribution Center P.O.Box 322 3300 AH Dordrecht The Netherlands ISBN -13 :978-94-009-8924-5 e-isbn -13 :978-94-009-8922-1 DOI: 10.1007/978-94-009-8922-1 Publication arranged by Commission of the European Communities, Directorate-General Scientific and Technical Information and Information Management EUR 6877 EN o ECSC, EEC, EAEC, Brussels-Luxembourg, 1980 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1980 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission. Manuscript Preparation by tb Janssen Services, 14 The Quay, Lower Thames Street, London, EC3R 6BU [? LEGAL NOTICE Neither the Commission of the European Communities nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use which might be made of the following information.

CONTENTS Page No. PREFACE VII OPENING REMARKS SESSION I CURRENT KNOWLEDGE OF "NORMAL" RANGE OF BEHAVIOUR AND PHYSIOLOGY THE ETHOGRAM OF THE DOMESTICATED HEN LJ.H. Duncan TO ADAPT THE ENVIRONMENT TO THE BIRD OR THE BIRD TO THE ENVIRONMENT? J.M. Faure SOME CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING OPTIMUM ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS FOR LAYING HENS IN CAGE MANAGEMENT J. Petersen CORTICOSTEROIDS IN LAYING HENS G. Beuving SUMMARY AND SESSION II BEHAVIOURAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL NEEDS THE REGULATION OF DUSTBATHING AND OTHER BEHAVIOUR PATTERNS IN THE LAYING HEN: A LORENZIAN APPROACH K. Vestergaard.. ESSENTIAL BEHAVIOURAL NEEDS D.W. FOlsch THE ASSESSMENT OF BEHAVIOURAL NEEDS B.D. Hughes ESSENTIAL BEHAVIOURAL NEEDS: THE MIXED MOTIVATION APPROACH W. Bessei SUMMARY AND 5 17 19 31 43 53 65 83 85 101 114 121 133 149 160 167 175 181

VI SESSION III MEASUREMENT OF ESSENTIAL AND BEHAVIOURAL NEEDS AS PROVIDED BY THE PRESENT HUSBANDRY SYSTEMS MEASUREMENT OF ESSENTIAL AND BEHAVIOURAL NEEDS AS PROVIDED BY PRESENT HUSBANDRY SYSTEMS: BATTERY, 'GET-AWAY' CAGE, AVIARY R.-M. Wegner PUTTING SCIENCE INTO PRACTICE, J. Amanda Hill THE PRE-LAYING BEHAVIOUR OF LAYING HENS IN CAGES WITH AND WITHOUT LAYING NESTS G.C. Brantas SOME SYSTEM DEFINITIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS C.M. Hann MOULTING IN THE DOMESTIC HEN (Gallus domesticus) AND ITS USE AND EFFECT J. Fris Jensen CAGES: HOW COULD THEY BE IMPROVED? R. Tauson FINAL SUMMARY CLOSING REMARKS LIST OF PARTICIPANTS 195 203 207 220 227 235 239 251 259 263 269 300 305 319 327 329

PREFACE Vll The welfare of domestic poultry. particularly those kept under intensive housing conditions is a subject ~ n which many. often divergent and conflicting views. are held. This divergence, may be the result either of insufficient knowledge of the facts of particular poultry husbandry systems or a differing interpretation of those facts. With regard to poultry and the laying hen in particular. there is a need to gather together a basic knowledge of avian behaviour in all the circumstances and systems of husbandry under which birds are presently being kept. That knowledge should lead to the development of interpretative and hopefully predictive theories which in turn will allow us to meet the recommendations of Article 3 of the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Animals Kept for Farming Purposes: 'that animals shall be housed, provided with food. water and care in a manner which - having regard to their species and to their degree of development. adaptation and domestication - appropriate to their physiological and ethological needs in accordance with established experience and scientific knowledge'. is In furtherance of those objectives a small group of specialists in poultry physiology and ethology. both from within and outside the European Community met by invitation of the Commission in Luxembourg between 11 and 13 March 1980. Their objective was to discuss what is already known. and can be agreed on. of the normal physiology and ethological range of the laying hen. and secondly to try to determine what further research and development work is required to add to that knowledge. The papers and discussions which follow clearly illustrate: (i) the considerable complexity of the subject under discussion and of the problems inherent in deciding basic criteria; (ii) the wide area of unknown factors which need urgent investigation. Indeed the papers and discussions will, I am sure, provoke more questions than they answer.

Finally, may I, on behalf of the scientists and experts who were present at the Seminar thank the Commission for the opportunity to participate in this most useful meeting. R. Moss