A survey of layer-type pullet rearing in Switzerland

Battery cages for laying birds were banned in Switzerland in 1981. Several new systems were developed in the years that followed, but to date only the deep litter and aviary systems have complied with both the regulations of the Swiss Animal Welfare Act and given satisfactory production results. The ways in which layer replacements are reared has been found to be crucial if they are to be able to cope optimally with the new aviary system. For this reason, the Federal Veterinary Office commissioned a survey to investigate how layer replacement pullets were reared in Switzerland. Sixty six out of a total of 155 farms that had facilities to rear 500 or more chicks at one time were visited between April and December 1997. Data were gathered on the type of housing system, management methods and the prevalence of feather pecking. The results of the survey are presented in a descriptive way and discussed in relation to the conditions during the laying perio

Discussion of Panel Textile Tradition and Fashion in the Context of Globalization

The papers by Hazel Lutz, Heather Akou, and Cathy Daly raise several overlapping issues that bridge three words-two, fashion and tradition that we have used commonly and perhaps, carelessly. The third, globalization, that is newer in our vocabularies but so common that it approaches or has become a buzzword. Before continuing with analysis of these words as concepts and their place in understanding textiles today, I want to compliment the authors of the papers for providing their thoughtful and richly documented examples of textile traditions that emerge from Africa and Asia with impact on other continents. Each author provided in-depth knowledge about a specific textile or related set of textiles: Lutz\u27s example of Indian cloths prepared for export to West Africa; Akou\u27s example of West African indigo and mud-dyed cloths Africa; and Daly\u27s example of Afghan women\u27s embroideries. Certainly, the details in their papers along with other examples emerging from the symposium prod us to question what fashion, tradition, and globalization mean. In our own panel, Akou provided an easy launching place for defining fashion and tradition. She points out a discrepancy between Roach-Higgins\u27 and Blumer\u27s definitions of fashion. However, consistent in each is the idea that change occurs whether we are consciously aware of it or not. She quotes Blumer who says that a primary response to fashion is seen chiefly as doing what is believed as the superior practice. Abandoning that which is no longer superior means changing one\u27s practice. Even though we may have few disagreements about the role of change in fashion, the problems arise in our use of traditional and tradition in relationship to fashion. The implication is that anything that comes from a tradition and is thus traditional has not, does not, and will not change

The Transformation of Men into Masquerades and Indian Madras into Masquerade Cloth in Buguma, Nigeria

The Kalahari Ijo people of the Niger Delta area of southeastern Nigeria use a group of dark indigo-blue cloths with white patterning to cover the faces of masquerade performers. Subsumed under the name of alubite (masquerade cloth) are at least three distinct types: (1) ukara cloth, an indigo-resist of imported muslin, stitched and dyed by Igbo craftsmen, (2) alubite cloth, a gauze-weave, also an indigo-resist, but of unknown provenance, and (3) pelete bite, an Indian madras from which threads are cut and pulled by Kalahari women to form a new pattern. The first two types of cloth apparently come from non-Kalahari sources. The third, pelete bite, transforms dark blue and white imported madras, using local technology, into a patterned masquerade cloth for which there is a cultural demand. We focus on this transformation, examining particular types of Indian madras considered appropriate for this adaptation and the ways that these cloths are altered (i.e., cut and pulled), their relationship in color and design to ukara and to the other alubite cloths, and the significance of the triangular motif, alu, for depicting water spirits in masquerade performances

The Transformation of Men into Masquerades and Indian Madras into Masquerade Cloth in Buguma, Nigeria

The Kalahari Ijo people of the Niger Delta area of southeastern Nigeria use a group of dark indigo-blue cloths with white patterning to cover the faces of masquerade performers. Subsumed under the name of alubite (masquerade cloth) are at least three distinct types: (1) ukara cloth, an indigo-resist of imported muslin, stitched and dyed by Igbo craftsmen, (2) alubite cloth, a gauze-weave, also an indigo-resist, but of unknown provenance, and (3) pelete bite, an Indian madras from which threads are cut and pulled by Kalahari women to form a new pattern. The first two types of cloth apparently come from non-Kalahari sources. The third, pelete bite, transforms dark blue and white imported madras, using local technology, into a patterned masquerade cloth for which there is a cultural demand. We focus on this transformation, examining particular types of Indian madras considered appropriate for this adaptation and the ways that these cloths are altered (i.e., cut and pulled), their relationship in color and design to ukara and to the other alubite cloths, and the significance of the triangular motif, alu, for depicting water spirits in masquerade performances

The Transformation of Men into Masquerades and Indian Madras into Masquerade Cloth in Buguma, Nigeria

The Kalahari Ijo people of the Niger Delta area of southeastern Nigeria use a group of dark indigo-blue cloths with white patterning to cover the faces of masquerade performers. Subsumed under the name of alubite (masquerade cloth) are at least three distinct types: (1) ukara cloth, an indigo-resist of imported muslin, stitched and dyed by Igbo craftsmen, (2) alubite cloth, a gauze-weave, also an indigo-resist, but of unknown provenance, and (3) pelete bite, an Indian madras from which threads are cut and pulled by Kalahari women to form a new pattern. The first two types of cloth apparently come from non-Kalahari sources. The third, pelete bite, transforms dark blue and white imported madras, using local technology, into a patterned masquerade cloth for which there is a cultural demand. We focus on this transformation, examining particular types of Indian madras considered appropriate for this adaptation and the ways that these cloths are altered (i.e., cut and pulled), their relationship in color and design to ukara and to the other alubite cloths, and the significance of the triangular motif, alu, for depicting water spirits in masquerade performances

Survey of laying hen husbandry in Switzerland

In Switzerland eggs have not been produced in battery cages since January 1992. During the 10 year period from 1981 farmers replaced their battery cages with deep litter, aviary and grid-floor systems and modified cages. However, the cages used to replace the conventional battery cages and most of the grid- floor systems did not fulfil the requirements of the Swiss Welfare Act and they were not permitted to be advertised or sold thereafter. Sixteen years after the ban on battery cages, the Federal Veterinary Office has undertaken a survey to determine how laying hens are kept in Switzerland and how the alternative systems have fared. The survey was carried out on 96 randomly chosen farms with at least 500 hen places to find out more about the housing conditions, management processes, status and performance of hens. The results show that aviaries are very common in Switzerland (65% of the laying hens) and that the laying performance in these systems is significantly higher than that in grid- floor systems and similar to that in battery cages. Provision of a protected outdoor area is a valuable benefit. To be successful with aviary systems it is necessary for pullets to spend the rearing period under similar housing condition

Feather pecking in growers: a study with individually marked birds

Abstract 1. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether individual birds specialise in feather pecking. Growers were individually marked and reared in groups of 30 or 31 in pens with a slatted oor. At an age of 4 to 6 weeks feather pecking was frequent in all pens. 2. On average 83% of all group members (10 groups, experiment 1) were recorded at least once as initiator of a feather pecking interaction. In each group 2 to 6 individuals feather pecked more than twice as often as the average for the group, and were de ned as 'high rate peckers'. They initiated 39% of all recorded feather pecking interactions