Participatory breeding system for laying hens

Livestock breeds (and breeding systems) developed for intensive production systems often do not perform as expected in organic and extensive systems. For these alternative systems animals need good social and ranging behaviour, which is in general not necessary in intensive systems with greater confinement for the animals. Although this is the case in all the livestock species (e.g. dairy cows, pigs and sheep), in poultry, the differences between organic/free range and conventional systems are comparatively larg

Testcases KringloopToets 2015-2016 en daaruit geleerde lessen : verslag van workshops ter introductie en validatie van de KringloopToets

De KringloopToets is in 2015 ontwikkeld door Wageningen Livestock Research in samenwerking met de Werkgroep Kringlopen. In de Werkgroep zijn de Ministeries van Infrastructuur en Milieu en Economische Zaken, de Provincie Noord Brabant, het Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM), de stichting Natuur en Milieu, de Brabantse Milieu Federatie en de Nederlandse Vereniging voor Diervoederindustrie vertegenwoordigd. In opdracht van het Ministerie van Infrastructuur en Milieu en de provincie Noord-Brabant is met diverse stakeholders in workshops de KringloopToets gevalideerd en getest. Dit rapport heeft als doel de resultaten, ervaringen en geleerde lessen van deze workshops vast te leggen. Op grond van de ervaringen is de werkwijze in de workshops aangepast. Algemene conclusie uit de workshops is, dat de KringloopToets een goed gespreksinstrument is om met diverse stakeholders maatregelen, die het beter sluiten van nutriëntenkringlopen beogen, gezamenlijk te onderzoeken en gedeelde inzichten te verkrijgen in de mogelijke effecten van die maatregelen. Uitwerken van een casus (maatregel) met stakeholders van verschillende achtergronden vereist wel de nodige tijd en inzet van alle deelnemers. Het doel van de toets is om te komen tot gedeelde en gezamenlijk onderschreven inzichten, niet om besluiten te nemen

Haltungsbedingungen, Leistung und Gesundheit von gängigen Legehennen-Genotypen in Öko- und Freilandhaltungen in Frankreich, der Schweiz und den Niederlanden

In Switzerland, France and The Netherlands 257 farmers keeping free ranging laying hens (organic and conventional) were interviewed with regard to genotype of the hens, management conditions and performance. In total, 21 different genotypes were present on the farms. The overall effect of system (organic vs. conventional) on egg production and mortality was significant, with higher mortality and lower egg production among organic hens. White hens tended to perform better and have a better feather cover than brown hens. Silver hens appeared to have a higher mortality and lower production per hen housed. In group discussions, farmers preferred a more robust, heavier hen with good intake capacity and good persistence. In organic systems, this hen type is more economic according to model calculations

Gelijkspel

Onderzoek weerspreekt dat kippen met onbehandelde snavels eerder kaal en kaler worden dan behandelde hennen, zoals vaak wordt gesteld. Er is weinig verschil in verenkleed tussen bio- en vrije-uitloophennen

Search for the ideal laying hen for organic and free range systems

Since 1960 the majority of commercial layers are housed in cages. Non-cage housing started to appear again from 1980 onwards and increases in importance. It is questionable if birds bred to perform in cages are also suited for free range housing. We examined the performance of current genotypes in free range systems (organic and conventional) by an inventory among laying hen farmers in Switzerland, The Netherlands and France (325 flocks on 275 farms) and organised workshops with farmers to discuss their ideas on breeding goals (‘the ideal hen’) for free range systems

KringloopToets Mestverwerking

The Nutrient Cycle Assessment aims at visualizing nutrient flows. Commissioned by the Ministries of I&M and Economic Affairs and the Dutch Organisation of Feed Research a Nutrient Cycle Assessment was carried out for manure processing. It appeared that a case with market pull on the market for animal manure (artificial fertilizer is not allowed any more) inspires the participants much more to analyse the effects of such an intervention than when the intervention pushes animal manure in the market (all pig manure has to be processed). This report describes the conclusions of the analysis and the lessons that can be learned from this exercise for future work with the Nutrient Cycle Assessment

Auf der Suche nach der besten Freilandhenne

Welche Legehenne eignet sich für Freilandbetriebe? Welche Anforderungen stellen wir an eine solche Henne? Im EU-Projekt «LowInputBreeds» wird das untersucht und dieser Artikel stellt erste Resultate vor

Selection and characterization of ‘low input’ farm groups in 3 macro-climatic regions in Europe for inclusion in a “farmer participatory” performance recording network (FP-PRN) and performance recording of currently used layer genotypes

In poultry, breeding is carried out by a very limited number of international operating breeding companies. For laying hens two companies dominate the market. Laying hens are in general 4-way crosses. Since 1960 the majority of commercial layers are bred and housed in cages. Non-cage housing started to appear again from 1980 onwards and increases slowly in importance, at first in Europe, but recently also in North America. It is questionable if birds bred to perform in cages are also suited for free range housing. In this project we examine the performance of current genotypes in free range systems (organic and conventional), and if and how an improved genotype for free range housing can be developed