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I'm now going to tell you a little bit about
some abnormal behaviors that we might see in our laying hens.
The ways in which we artificially rear and house poultry, in other words,
their environment, has led to the development of some abnormal behaviors.
What do I mean by abnormal behaviors?
Well, these are behaviors that deviates in form,
or frequency, or sequence from a defined comparable standard.
One of those problems is really common,
in laying hens at least,
is feather pecking and cannibalism.
Feather pecking is a type of non-aggressive pecking that is
characterized by the pecking act and sometimes pulling out of feathers.
We get two types of forms of feather pecking,
and that's gentle and vigorous.
Feather pecking is thought to be redirected ground pecking.
There are some thoughts that it might also be redirecting just mating behavior,
but that theory is generally gone by the wave side.
Domestic fowl particularly laying hens,
but also turkeys and pheasants,
tend to perform this behavior towards other birds.
And they don't typically show it towards themselves.
Parents do this and that's called feather picking.
But feather pecking is now thought to be
this redirected ground pecking or foraging that I mentioned earlier.
It tends to be exacerbated where birds cannot show
foraging behavior or perhaps where they can forage,
but there's very little positive feedback,
such as they may forage on litter floors,
in barn, or free range systems,
but there's nothing coming back to them or they forage outside,
but the ground is worn down.
So, there's not much positive feedback.
Chicks can start gentle feather pecking from a really early age
and this can develop into a more serious vigorous pecking.
Where does feather pecking tends take place?
Well, feather pecking often begins with the back near the base of the tail.
This may be because feathers here are out of
alignment more or perhaps because of the proximity to
the preen gland and thus the feathers they are coated with
more preen oil or because here they are more easily plucked out.
But it may also start at the neck and breast,
particularly where birds stand on perches and
this area is usually accessed by the hens that are standing below them.
Feather pecking is readily learnt between birds.
Some birds may be feather peckers,
some birds may be feather-pecked,
and others will be neither and others will be both.
Cannibalism is a destruction and or ingestion of another animal's tissue.
And this behavior is again seen in chickens particularly hens, turkeys, pheasants,
quail, and duck, and it may follow serious feather pecking,
where the skin is exposed or damaged.
In females, it's usually targeted at events
around the time involved in position as previously mentioned.
So, what environmental factors can affect pecking?
Well, housing type and conditions can.
For example, in cages,
the problem here is that the birds that are targeted cannot escape easily,
but also the feather pecker is limited to how many birds she can target.
So, there is some limitation there.
In floor housing systems,
birds may be able to avoid their attacker,
but few feather peckers can target many more birds than in cages.
Providing perches may help by allowing birds to seek refuge away from feather peckers.
However, perches also allow birds to defecate on one another and this causes
a contrast on the plumage or the disarrangement of
the feathers and that in itself may attract feather pecking.
It's important that when you provide perches;
that they are neither too high nor too low,
which can in both cases exacerbate pecking.
There is certainly a genetic component to feather pecking.
Low feather pecking lines of laying hens can be selected,
but this may also decrease egg production.
So, so far this has not become
a favorable form of getting rid of feather pecking behavior on a commercial scale.
There's some evidence that feather peckers are more fearful than non-feather peckers.
So that could be a problem.
Group size and stocking density may also have an effect on feather pecking.
If stocking density is high,
this may prevent adequate access to the litter
on the floor and thus exacerbate the problem.
Another factor that can affect feather pecking and cannibalism behavior is food form.
So, feather pecking has been shown to be exacerbated by this.
Concentrated feeds that are provided to domestic birds means that the time
they have to spend in foraging is greatly reduced compared to wild birds.
Domestic fowl are, therefore,
able to meet their nutrient requirements in a small amount of time,
but they're still motivated to perform feeding behaviors,
those appetitive and consummatory behaviors I mentioned some time ago,
and they've made redirect these motivated behaviors as feather pecking.
It's been shown that if you feed pellets compared to mash that this can exacerbate
feather pecking probably because
bird's daily intake requires less time to consume compared to the mash one.
Light intensity and color is another factor.
High light intensity can aggravate feather pecking and cannibalism,
because higher light intensity generally results in greater activity.
And the provision of red lighting can also help prevent or reduce cannibalism,
because red wounds or bloods are more
difficult to see under this light because they appear black.
So how can you limit feather pecking and cannibalism?
Well, provide plenty of foraging material for your birds.
Get your chickens to work for their food by scattering it for example,
house your birds on a loose for
substrate even if you can't give them access to the outdoors.
This will encourage them to show foraging.
Provide perches and adequate space for hen,
reduce your light intensity if you need to,
but still make it adequate for you to inspect
your flock thoroughly and consider using red lighting,
reduce your stocking density.
As a last resort you might want to consider beak
blunting this is using an abrasive surface in
the food trough and as the hen pecks it it might dull
the beak tip or if you need to you may need to beak trim.
Dr Victoria SandilandsSenior scientist
