Effects of rearing experience and stimulus enrichment on feather damage in laying hens

Abstract An experiment was conducted to determine whether feather damage in laying hens could be reduced by providing access to sand and peat for dustbathing during rearing, and by giving straw for environmental enrichment during the laying period. For this purpose 1280 White Leghorns were used. Half of the chicks were reared conventionally on straw (−R), while the other half were reared on a substrate consisting of sand and fine dry peat (+R). In addition they were given straw after 14 days of life. From 18 weeks of age the birds were kept in 16 groups of 80 hens each in an alternative egg production system (The Hans Kier System). Eight groups were formed from each rearing treatment and four of the groups from each treatment were given access to cut straw from a perforated plastic basket (+S), while the other four groups had no such supplementing stimulus (−S). During the laying period the plumage was scored at 28, 45, 59 and 72 weeks of age. Overall, there were significant beneficial effects of both the rearing and straw treatments. However, deterioration of the plumage increased with age in all groups. It was most severe in the −R−S (control) groups, while both the +R and the +S treatments as well as their combination (+R+S) significantly reduced the deterioration at 28 weeks of age ( P P P