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

Abstract

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