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Contemporary Alternative Systems for Laying Fowls: Production Data and Behavioural Findings

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2017

S.W. Gibson ,
P. Dun ,
G. Hogarth ,
J.A. Anderson ,
C.T. Whittemore  and
B.O. Hughes
S.W. Gibson
Affiliation:
Poultry Husbandry Department, The West of Scotland Agricultural College, Auchincruive, Ayr, KA6 5HW
P. Dun
Affiliation:
Poultry Husbandry Department, The West of Scotland Agricultural College, Auchincruive, Ayr, KA6 5HW
G. Hogarth
Affiliation:
Animal Production Advisory and Development Department, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 OQE
J.A. Anderson
Affiliation:
Animal Production Advisory and Development Department, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 OQE
C.T. Whittemore
Affiliation:
Animal Production Advisory and Development Department, Bush Estate, Penicuik, Midlothian, EH26 OQE
B.O. Hughes
Affiliation:
ARC Poultry Research Centre, Roslin, Midlothian, EH25 9PS
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Extract

Over 95% of laying fowls in the UK are now housed in conventional battery cages. In recent years the general public and more specifically an Agricultural Committee on Animal Welfare in Poultry (1981) have raised doubts concerning the welfare of hens maintained this way and have called for further studies on alternative systems.

Consequently investigations into three alternatives to battery cages have been initiated: a range and covered strawyard system at The West of Scotland Agricultural College and a modified deep litter system at The East of Scotland College of Agriculture. The main objective of these investigations is to determine the practical feasibility and welfare consequences of the respective systems as alternatives to cages for keeping laying fowls. As well as recording productivity, the behavioural activities and distribution of wing-tagged birds have been monitored within the flocks of both the strawyard and deep litter systems. In all three studies ISA Brown layers were used and compared with sister stock housed in cages.

Type
Welfare in Intensive Systems
Information
Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Production (1972) , Volume 1984 , March 1984 , pp. 64
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Production 1984

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References

Farm Animal Welfare Co-ordinating Executive (1981). Minutes of Evidence to House of Commons Agriculture Committee on “Animal Welfare in Poultry, Pigs and Veal Calf Production.” 38-V, HMSO: London.Google Scholar