Disturbance of resting behaviour of broilers under different environmental conditions

Resting behaviours make up a large part of the daily time budget of broilers. However, in intensive broiler production systems disruptions of resting behaviours occur, where resting individuals get disturbed by active individuals. Such interruptions of resting behaviour may negatively affect the welfare of the birds but also disturb important functions of sleep related for instance to restoration and growth. This study investigated if a lower stocking density or the provision of separate resting places in the form of elevated platforms would result in less disruption of resting patterns of fast-growing broilers. Three different treatments were used, one with an elevated platform, one with lowered stocking density and a control setting. A randomized block design was used, consisting of six blocks, giving six to eight replicates of each treatment. Depending on treatment, 422-497 broilers (Ross 308) were kept per pen. Data on duration of resting bouts, occurrence of disturbances and position in pen during resting were collected on days 20 and 34 of age. An overall effect of treatment x position was found on duration of resting bouts both during day (P < 0.01) and night (P < 0.001). When resting on platforms the duration of resting bouts during daytime was longer compared to when birds were resting in open areas in the control groups (P = 0.04). During night the duration of resting bouts on platforms was longer compared to duration of resting bouts at all other locations in all treatments. In addition, resting position also had an overall effect on proportion of disturbances during day (P = 0.0018) and night (P = 0.0225). Resting on platforms reduced the number of physical disturbances of resting chickens compared to open areas in the control group both during day (P adj < 0.001) and night (P adj = 0.01). Generally, the level of disturbances was high in all treatments, suggesting that birds experience disrupted rest. As rest and sleep are vital needs, it is a welfare concern that chickens negatively affect other individuals' resting behaviour. A separate resting place appears to reduce disturbances to some extent and thus potentially increases the welfare of broiler chickens. However, provision of platforms is not enough to prevent frequent disturbances of resting and it is concluded that additional changes in housing conditions of broiler chickens are needed to improve their rest and sleep

Resting behavior of broilers reared with or without artificial brooders

Rest and sleep are important for the welfare of mammals and birds. A large part of the daily time budget of broiler chickens is taken up by resting behavior and the quality of resting is important. However, in intensive broiler production systems, disruptions of resting behaviors are common. These disruptions of resting behavior could be negative for the health and growth of the birds. This study investigated if artificial brooders that provide a delimited and darker resting place, away from active birds, reduce disruptions of resting behavior compared to a control situation without artificial brooders. Six pens of each treatment were used in the same building, keeping 60 chickens (Ross 308) per pen. The artificial brooders were removed at 21 days of age. Data on disturbances and duration of resting bouts and activity between resting bouts were collected on 20 and 34 days of age. Also, as an indicator of the quality of rest, the animals' cognitive performance was evaluated in a spatial learning test that was performed at 11 days of age. The results showed that birds housed in pens with access to brooders have longer resting bouts (260.7 +/- 5.2 vs. 132.8 +/- 5.3s, p < 0.001) and are less likely to be disturbed during resting by other individuals (0.15 vs. 0.48, p < 0.001). The effect of the artificial brooders on both the duration of resting bouts and the proportion of disturbances remained after the removal of the brooders at 21 days of age. The duration of activity between resting bouts was shorter if the resting bout was ended by a disturbance (9.98 +/- 1.0 vs. 61.0 +/- 2.4s, p < 0.001). Birds reared with brooders were more likely to solve the spatial learning task (0.5 vs. 0.27, p < 0.01), but those succeeding were not faster at solving it. Broilers may be exposed to disrupted rest due to the lack of a dedicated resting place separated from areas with high activity. Using artificial brooders reduces disturbances but does not eliminate them. Therefore, additional changes to the housing conditions or management will be needed to prevent disturbances

Resting behavior of broilers reared with or without artificial brooders

Rest and sleep are important for the welfare of mammals and birds. A large part of the daily time budget of broiler chickens is taken up by resting behavior and the quality of resting is important. However, in intensive broiler production systems, disruptions of resting behaviors are common. These disruptions of resting behavior could be negative for the health and growth of the birds. This study investigated if artificial brooders that provide a delimited and darker resting place, away from active birds, reduce disruptions of resting behavior compared to a control situation without artificial brooders. Six pens of each treatment were used in the same building, keeping 60 chickens (Ross 308) per pen. The artificial brooders were removed at 21 days of age. Data on disturbances and duration of resting bouts and activity between resting bouts were collected on 20 and 34 days of age. Also, as an indicator of the quality of rest, the animals' cognitive performance was evaluated in a spatial learning test that was performed at 11 days of age. The results showed that birds housed in pens with access to brooders have longer resting bouts (260.7 ± 5.2 vs. 132.8 ± 5.3s, p &lt; 0.001) and are less likely to be disturbed during resting by other individuals (0.15 vs. 0.48, p &lt; 0.001). The effect of the artificial brooders on both the duration of resting bouts and the proportion of disturbances remained after the removal of the brooders at 21 days of age. The duration of activity between resting bouts was shorter if the resting bout was ended by a disturbance (9.98 ± 1.0 vs. 61.0 ± 2.4s, p &lt; 0.001). Birds reared with brooders were more likely to solve the spatial learning task (0.5 vs. 0.27, p &lt; 0.01), but those succeeding were not faster at solving it. Broilers may be exposed to disrupted rest due to the lack of a dedicated resting place separated from areas with high activity. Using artificial brooders reduces disturbances but does not eliminate them. Therefore, additional changes to the housing conditions or management will be needed to prevent disturbances

Never wake a sleeping broiler : An undisturbed natural resting pattern in broilers

The importance of sleep and rest for animals is well known, but rarely mentioned and considered in the handbooks for broiler production, nor when welfare issues are discussed in relation to the production settings. Resting behaviours make up a large part of the daily time budget of broilers, making the quality of rest highly important for the welfare of the birds. Behaviour data on rest can give a lot of valuable information on the quality of resting and thereby, indirectly, on the quality of sleep. Poor quality resting can negatively affect the welfare of the birds but also disturb important functions of sleep related for instance to restoration, growth and cognitive functioning. Therefore, this thesis investigated three possible treatments to improve the quality of resting behaviour; elevated platforms, artificial brooders and intermittent lighting. The results show that all three treatments reduce physical disturbances between birds and increase resting bout duration. Intermittent lighting also increase the synchronisation of resting behaviour. No negative effects were found on production or clinical welfare parameters. A reduction of fear was seen for broilers reared with elevated platforms, artificial brooders or intermittent lighting, indicating increased welfare. Altering the broilers’ environment to promote more natural resting patterns have positive effects on the resting behaviour of the birds and thus likely also on their sleep

The role of personality, cognition, and affective state in same-sex contests in the red junglefowl

Intra-species contests are common in the animal kingdom and can have fitness consequences. Most research on what predicts contest outcome focuses on morphology, although differences in personality and cognition may also be involved. Supporting this, more proactive individuals often have dominant status, although the causality of this relationship is rarely investigated. Contest initiators often win; thus, individuals that are more proactive in their personality (e.g., more aggressive, risk-taking) or cognition (e.g., more optimistic, impulsive) may initiate contests more often. To investigate this, we assayed the behavior and cognition of sexually mature male and female red junglefowl (Gallus gallus), a species in which both sexes contest over social status, before staging intra-sexual contests. We confirm that contest initiators were more likely to win. In males, individuals that behaved more boldly in a novel arena test were more likely to initiate and win contests. Female initiators tended to be less active in novel object test, more aggressive in a restrained opponent test, and respond less optimistically in a cognitive judgement bias test, whereas the main predictor of whether a female would win a contest was whether she initiated it. These results suggest that behaviors attributed to proactive and reactive personalities, and-at least for female red junglefowl-optimism, can affect contest initiation and outcome. Therefore, within species, and depending on sex, different aspects of behavior and cognition may independently affect contest initiation and outcome. The generality of these findings, and their fitness consequences, requires further investigation.Funding Agencies|Linkoping University; Swedish research council FormasSwedish Research CouncilSwedish Research Council Formas</p