Relationships Between Rearing Enrichments, Range Use, and an Environmental Stressor for Free-Range Laying Hen Welfare

Enrichments during pullet rearing may improve adaptation and welfare of hens as they move from indoor rearing to a free-range system. Individual variation in outdoor ranging may also affect welfare. This study assessed the effects of rearing enrichments and an imposed environmental stressor on hen welfare and egg quality along with the association of welfare with ranging. Hy-Line Brown® chicks (n = 1,386) were reared indoors until 16 weeks with 3 enrichment treatments including a "control" group with standard floor litter, a "novelty" group that received novel objects that were changed weekly, and a "structural" group with H-shaped perching structures. Pullets were then moved to a free-range system with three replicates of each rearing treatment. Daily ranging was individually tracked from 25 to 64 weeks via radiofrequency identification technology. Individual hen welfare assessments were performed at 25, 33, 43, 56, and 64 weeks and correlated with ranging time prior to these dates. At 44 weeks, the range area was reduced by 80% for 11 days to induce stress. Changes in ranging behavior, albumen corticosterone concentrations and egg quality were evaluated. GLMMs showed significant interactions between hen age and rearing treatment for live weight, number of comb wounds, plumage coverage, and toenail length (all P ≤ 0.003), with the enriched hens showing more consistent live weight at the later ages, fewer comb wounds at 33 weeks, and better plumage coverage at the later ages, whereas the structural hens had shorter toenails as age increased. Plumage coverage showed a positive relationship with range use across most age points (P P = 0.03). Significant interactions between rearing treatment and stressor for albumen corticosterone concentrations showed the structural hens decreased concentrations immediately post-stress, but the control and novelty groups increased (P P ≤ 0.02). Overall, provision of rearing enrichments and greater range use may have positive impacts on hen welfare

Rearing Enrichments Affected Ranging Behavior in Free-Range Laying Hens

Within Australia, free-range systems are prevalent, but pullets destined for range access are reared indoors. This mismatch between rearing and layer housing may hinder adaptation to the free-range environment. Rearing enrichments could enhance pullet development. A total of 1,386 Hy-Line Brown® chicks were reared inside an experimental facility across 16 weeks with 3 enrichment treatments including (1) a control group with standard floor-housing, (2) a novelty group providing novel objects that changed weekly ("novelty" hens), and (3) a structural group with custom-designed H-shaped structures including opaque sides ("structural" hens). At 16 weeks of age, all pullets were leg-banded with microchips and moved to an experimental free-range system with 9 identical pens (n = 3/rearing treatment). From 25 to 64 weeks, individual hen daily ranging behavior was tracked via radio-frequency identification technology and grouped into 6 age periods per rearing treatment. Video footage was used to count the number of hens at different distances on the range for the first 14 days of access, and eggs were assessed for albumen corticosterone concentrations 4 days prior to (n = 450) and 1 week after first range access (n = 450). Across most age periods, the structural hens spent the most time ranging (P ≤ 0.01), the novelty hens showed the fewest number of visits to the range (P P ≤ 0.02). Range use increased with age across all treatments with only 3% of hens never going outside. All hens were initially slow to use the range area with fewer novelty hens venturing farther onto the range (P ≤ 0.03). The structural hens had higher albumen corticosterone concentrations and variance (both P ≤ 0.004) prior to range access. All hens showed an increase in albumen corticosterone following the first week of range access resulting in no differences between rearing treatments in means (P = 0.92) and variance (P = 0.63). Different enrichments have differing impacts on ranging behavior, but further research is needed to understand the mechanisms of effects, with differences in brain lateralization a potential hypothesis to be tested

Sheep Updates 2007 - part 4

This session covers eight papers from different authors: GRAZING 1. The impact of high dietary salt and its implications for the management of livestock grazing saline land, Dean Thomas, Dominique Blache, Dean Revell, Hayley Norman, Phil Vercoe, Zoey Durmic, Serina Digby, Di Mayberry, Megan Chadwick, Martin Sillence and David Masters, CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity, Faculty of Natural & Agricultural Sciences, The University of Western Australia, WA. 2. Sustainable Grazing on Saline Lands - outcomes from the WA1 research project, H.C. Norman1,2, D.G. Masters1,2, R. Silberstein1,2, F. Byrne2,3, P.G.H. Nichols2,4, J. Young3, L. Atkins1,2, M.G. Wilmot1,2, A.J. Rintoul1,2, T. Lambert1,2, D.R. McClements2,4, P. Raper4, P. Ward1,2, C. Walton5 and T. York6 1CSIRO Centre for Environment and Life Sciences, Wembley, WA 2CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity. 3School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Western Australia. 4Department of Agriculture and Food WA. 5Condering Hills, Yealering. 6Anameka Farms, Tammin. MEAT QUALITY 3. Development of intramuscular fat in prime lambs, young sheep and beef cattle, David Pethick1, David Hopkins2 and Malcolm McPhee3,1School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences, Murdoch University, Murdoch, WA, 2NSW Department of Primary Industries, Cowra, NSW,3NSW Dept. of Primary Industries, University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 4. Importance of drinking water temperature for managing heat stress in sheep, Savage DB, Nolan JV, Godwin IR, Aoetpah A, Nguyen T, Baillie N and Lawler C University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia EWE MANAGEMENT TOOLS 5. E - sheep Management of Pregnant Merino Ewes and their Finishing Lambs, Ken GeentyA, John SmithA, Darryl SmithB, Tim DyallA and Grant UphillA A Sheep CRC and CSIRO Livestock Industries, Chiswick, NSW B Turretfield Research Station, SARDI, Roseworthy, SA 6. Is it important to manage ewes to CS targets? John Young, Farming Systems Analysis Service, Kojonup, WA MULESING 7. Mulesing accreditation - Vital for Wool\u27s Future, Dr Michael Paton, Department of Agriculture and Food WA, 8. Mulesing Alternatives, Jules Dorrian, Affiliation Project Manager Blowfly Control Australian Wool Inovatio

The ATP-Binding Cassette Proteins of the Deep-Branching Protozoan Parasite Trichomonas vaginalis

The ATP binding cassette (ABC) proteins are a family of membrane transporters and regulatory proteins responsible for diverse and critical cellular process in all organisms. To date, there has been no attempt to investigate this class of proteins in the infectious parasite Trichomonas vaginalis. We have utilized a combination of bioinformatics, gene sequence analysis, gene expression and confocal microscopy to investigate the ABC proteins of T. vaginalis. We demonstrate that, uniquely among eukaryotes, T. vaginalis possesses no intact full-length ABC transporters and has undergone a dramatic expansion of some ABC protein sub-families. Furthermore, we provide preliminary evidence that T. vaginalis is able to read through in-frame stop codons to express ABC transporter components from gene pairs in a head-to-tail orientation. Finally, with confocal microscopy we demonstrate the expression and endoplasmic reticulum localization of a number of T. vaginalis ABC transporters

Life and living in advanced age: a cohort study in New Zealand - Te Puāwaitanga o Nga Tapuwae Kia Ora Tonu, LiLACS NZ: Study protocol

The number of people of advanced age (85 years and older) is increasing and health systems may be challenged by increasing health-related needs. Recent overseas evidence suggests relatively high levels of wellbeing in this group, however little is known about people of advanced age, particularly the indigenous Māori, in Aotearoa, New Zealand. This paper outlines the methods of the study Life and Living in Advanced Age: A Cohort Study in New Zealand. The study aimed to establish predictors of successful advanced ageing and understand the relative importance of health, frailty, cultural, social & economic factors to successful ageing for Māori and non-Māori in New Zealand

Spatial Cognition and Range Use in Free-Range Laying Hens

Radio-frequency identification tracking shows individual free-range laying hens vary in range use, with some never going outdoors. The range is typically more environmentally complex, requiring navigation to return to the indoor resources. Outdoor-preferring hens may have improved spatial abilities compared to indoor-preferring hens. Experiment 1 tested 32 adult ISA Brown hens in a T-maze learning task that showed exclusively-indoor birds were slowest to reach the learning success criterion (p < 0.05). Experiment 2 tested 117 pullets from enriched or non-enriched early rearing treatments (1 pen replicate per treatment) in the same maze at 15–16 or 17–18 weeks. Enriched birds reached learning success criterion faster at 15–16 weeks (p < 0.05) but not at 17–18 weeks (p > 0.05), the age that coincided with the onset of lay. Enriched birds that were faster to learn the maze task showed more range visits in the first 4 weeks of range access. Enriched and non-enriched birds showed no differences in telencephalon or hippocampal volume (p > 0.05). Fear may reduce spatial abilities but further testing with more pen replicates per early rearing treatments would improve our understanding of the relationship between spatial cognitive abilities and range use

Impacts of Rearing Enrichments on Pullets’ and Free-Range Hens’ Positive Behaviors across the Flock Cycle

Enrichment during the indoor rearing of pullets destined for free-range systems may optimize pullet development including increasing motivated natural behaviors (termed ‘positive behaviors’) including foraging, dust bathing and chick play. Hy-Line Brown® chicks (n = 1700) were floor-reared indoors across 16 weeks with three enrichment treatments (n = 3 pens/treatment): (1) standard control, (2) weekly novel objects—‘novelty’, (3) perching/navigation structures—‘structural’. At 16 weeks, pullets (n = 1386) were transferred to nine identical pens within rearing treatments with outdoor range access from 25 to 65 weeks. Video cameras recorded the pullet pens, adult indoor pens, and outside range. During rearing, observations of play behavior (running, frolicking, wing-flapping, sparring) in chicks at 2, 4 and 6 weeks (total of 432 thirty-second scans: 16 observations × 3 days × 9 pens) showed no overall effect of rearing treatment (p = 0.16). At 11 and 14 weeks only the ‘novelty’ hens were observed to increase their foraging across age (p = 0.009; dust bathing: p = 0.40) (total of 612 thirty-second scans per behavior: 17 observations × 2 days × 2 age points × 9 pens). Observations of adult hens at 26, 31, 41, 50, 60 and 64 weeks showed that the structural hens exhibited overall more dust bathing and foraging than the control hens (both p p ≤ 0.001) and foraging outside (p p = 0.15). For litter-reared pullets, additional enrichments may result in some long-term increases in positive behaviors

Personality traits of high, low and non users of a free range area in laying hens

Free range poultry production is often perceived as a welfare friendly production system since it provides an outdoor range (OR) that allows the birds to express their full range of natural behaviours. However, a significant proportion of birds never use the OR and this could partly be due to individual characteristics of the animals. The aim of this study was to characterize personality traits of laying hens with different levels of OR use

Supplementary Figure 1 from Shared stressful experiences affect social proximity in Merino sheep

RTK rovers fitted to the backs of experimental shee