Cattle farm husbandry - cattle for meat

Cattle, farming, husbandry, meat, the law, slaughter, marketing, meat schedules, selling options, dressing (killing out percentage), transport, hormone growth promoters.

By Dr Clive Dalton

Meat cattle need careful handling as bruises don't show on the outside!

Meat and the law
After over 100 years in the meat exporting business, a mass of legislation has grown up in New Zealand to protect producers, processors and exporters, so farmers need to be aware of this fact and where necessary comply with it. Remember the customer is always right! So there is:

1. The Meat Act 1981
2. The Biosecurity Act 1993
3. The Animals Product Act 1999
4. The Biosecurity (Ruminant Protein) Regulations 1999
5. The Biosecurity (Animal Identification Systems) Regulations 1999
   

When are cattle ready for slaughter?

Would you make more money sending these cattle to the meat
worksor keep them a bit longer to put some more weight on them?
What's pasture growth going to be like in the next few months?
What should you do? Where do you get advice from someone you can trust!

The main question in farming cattle for meat is when will they be ready for slaughter? This can be a tricky question because of the Beef Carcass Classification or Grading System used in New Zealand, and you would be wise to become familiar with it and seek good advice before you do anything.

• Beef in New Zealand is either “prime” beef which is exported as cuts, either as chilled or frozen. Chilled beef gets the top price. Then there is “processing or manufacturing” beef which is boned, boxed and frozen before export.
• The grading system is designed to farmers for what the meat company considers the export market wants, and penalise them for what is not wanted such as over-fat animals.
  
• It assesses the maturity, sex, fat cover over the 12th rib and muscling of the carcass (called the GR measurement), to work out the payment rate.
• There are three muscling classes and four fat classes. Fat cover is especially important these days as consumers generally don’t want fat. Some fat is required but not in excess.
  
• The range in the fat covers in each class goes from L at 3mm, P from 3-10mm, T from 11-16 to finally F at 17mm or over. Fat class P is usually the one quoted in schedules published in the farming press.
• If you sell steers, heifers (with no more than 6 permanent incisors), or cows (with more than 6 permanent incisors), then these carcasses will be graded. Bulls are not graded so you get paid on weight alone.
  
• There is also a grade for vealers. These include maiden heifers, steers or bulls that are not showing masculine characteristics up to 14 months of age. Few of these are produced these days.
• So you need to work out the weight range that the carcass will fall into for its sex, then the fat class, and then its muscling score.
• Then you have the challenge of working out other options. For example, would you be better off to keep the stock longer and go up another weight class and be paid for more weight, but risk the penalty of going up a fat class too and being penalised. Can you see why you may need some advice?
  

Typical meat schedule prices
The table below is an example of a typical Meat Schedule available from meat companies or published on specialist websites for a particular week for North Island beef. For South Island take off 10c/kg.

Key points from the table

• It lets you see how things are this week and how things have changed recently.
  
• The real skill is to predict what’s going to happen in the weeks ahead and whether you should buy or sell taking into account the weather, pasture growth, what’s happening in the US economy, changes in the exchange rate, saleyard rumour and downright lies!
  
• There’s a challenge for a smart young IT person to write some software for a palm computer to predict all this for you – but it would take a lot of the fun out of it.
  

Killing out or dressing percentage

• The meat company pays you for the weight of the carcass, so now comes the question of how much of the live animal you sent to the meat plant weighed out as a carcass.
  
• The carcass weight, taken immediately after slaughter when hot is the animal’s total live weight, less the weight of intestines and their contents, head, feet, tail, testicles and penis, kidneys and channel fat, and fat trimmed off other parts. In other words it’s the weight of the animal after its carcass has been “dressed”.
• So the terms Killing Out Percentage (KO%) or Dressing Percentage are used and are calculated by dividing the hot carcass weight by the live weight and multiplying this by 100 over 1.
  

[(Hot carcass weight)/(Live weight without fasting)] x [100/1]

The values vary quite a bit depending on the way cattle were fed – see table below:

• It’s important to remember that if you weigh stock before they leave the farm, they will vary greatly in the amount of “fill’ or gut contents, and this may come as a big surprise when you see the KO%. Gut fill in adult cattle can range from 12 to 22% of the live weight of a beast.
• The longer you empty stock out by leaving them on a bare paddock or yard before slaughter, the less the loss will be.
  

• Meat company buyers who come to your farm are very experienced at looking at live animals and predicting their carcass weight. However, having an on-farm live weight is a great help for them to give you more confidence in their predictions.
  
• The killing sheets from the meat company give you the final true picture including killing charges, and it’s interesting and often frustrating to see on these sheets what defects like bruising and old injection abscesses cost you, especially if these were not have been of your doing!
  

Fit for human consumption?

• After slaughter and processing, every carcass whether for export or the domestic market is checked by a meat inspector from Asure (New Zealand) Ltd on behalf of the New Zealand government by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, to make sure it is fit for human consumption.
• Any carcass that fails to pass inspection is condemned and rendered down for blood and bone fertiliser
• After passing inspection, the carcass is weighed while still warm, and graded by a meat grader employed by the meat company and regularly audited by AusMeat.
  

Transporting stock to slaughter
Prime cattle for slaughter are a quality export product so remember the following:

• At least a week before transport, sort out stock for slaughter into their new groups to give them time to sort out their new social order. So they wait for slaughter and end their days with their mates.
• This is to avoid stress which affects the pH of the meat. This reduces shelf life when sold as a higher-value chilled product in supermarkets rather than just frozen.
  
• Ideally meat should have a pH of around 5.5 and it’s acceptable up to 5.8. This will produce good red meat that will be excellent to eat. In a range from 5.8 to 6.2, the meat begins to be unacceptable and tough.
  
• Above 6.2 and up to pH of 7.0, the meat will be relatively tender but will go a dark colour and will spoil quickly and have little flavour on cooking. Dark meat when displayed in a supermarket has little customer appeal and shoppers assume it is “going off”.
• If the stock have horns, get the vet to dehorn them (using an anaesthetic) at least a month before slaughter and never buy stock with horns in future. The vet’s account will remind you of this!
• After sorting or any vet treatment, put stock on good pasture to build up their glycogen levels.
• On the day of transport, muster them quietly and let them empty out on a bare paddock or yard with water for at least 8 hours without disturbance. This will keep them cleaner in the truck and reduce the effluent that may contaminate the highway.
• If the transporter is late - don’t let your stock be sacrificed by rushing them, in a bid to make up lost time.
• Load stock quietly without sticks or dogs and only minimal use of an electric probe if needed. Check for any protruding nails or bolts that will damage hides and bruise meat when loading and fix these before the truck arrives.
• Ensure the loading ramp is safe and the truck can back up squarely to it, leaving no gap for legs to get down and cause injury so they cannot be sent for slaughter.
• By law, animals must be able to take their full weight on all four feet to be acceptable for transport. Any animal that cannot will require a veterinary certificate before the truck operator or meat works will accept it.
• A meat processing plant does not accept defective stock or what used to be known as “mercy kills” such as stock with broken legs. Such animals now have to go for pet food which also now has special requirements regarding drug withholding periods.
• All stock must also be accompanied by the correct Tb documentation (on the Animal Status Declaration or ASD) before the truck driver will pick them up.
• Only use reliable transport operators who will give your stock a quiet ride to the meat plant. If transport staff are rough with your stock, don’t use them again and tell the company why. You have been preparing a high quality product for perhaps 14-18 months and to have it ruined by poor handling on its last day is unacceptable.
• Make sure the truck is clean before your stock are loaded - it is supposed to be.
• Ensure the truck operator does not mix your stock with others to save space. This is where fighting and bruising happens.
• The frustrating thing is that when your stock get to the works, they are often hosed down with cold water from a high-pressure hose to remove dung from their coats, or they are walked through a bath up to their bellies in cold water. This, together with all the strange smells at the works certainly adds to stress and cannot help the quality of the meat.
  

Presentation of cattle for slaughter
Again because of legal requirements, meat companies have strict standards about stock accepted for slaughter, so they meet the very strict standards set by the overseas markets. As a result the companies require an “Animal Status Declaration” (ASD).

• If you have any pangs of frustration when filling this in, just remember we have no choice as farmers are in the food business, and red meat is a health food. You’ve got to believe it!
  
• The question asking if the animals were born on your property and if not have you had them for 60 days or more is very important here. If you have just purchased the stock, you should have obtained an Animal Status Declaration form from the previous owner.
  
• If you didn’t, then “the worst case situation” applies which means the meat company cannot slaughter them for a 60-day withholding period. This can cost you extra feed and they may also get overfat.
  

Hormone growth promotants (HGP)
A growth promotant based on a natural oestrogen can be used legally in New Zealand with a trained technician present at the time of application. This is claimed to improve growth rate (23% increases are quoted), feed conversion and meat yield.

All treated animals must carry a special orange tag in one ear to warn future buyers and meat companies of the treatment as meat and offal is banned from some markets. Users must keep a full auditable record of treatments. See your veterinarian for details.

Despite the benefits to farmer profit, some meat companies now comment that they would prefer not to have to process HGP beef as they are under increasing pressure from non-EU markets not to send them the product. The extra care needed in processing ads greatly to their costs and some are signaling that they will be discounting the product in the future.


Disclaimer This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Cattle farm husbandry – home killing of meat

Cattle, farming, husbandry, meat, killing, slaughter of stock, farm meat for home consumption, the law, good practice.
By Dr Clive Dalton

Home killing on the farm

• It’s very important to have your home killing done by a licensed “home kill service provider” Operators are required to be licensed under the Animal Products Act 1999 and can provide their service on their own licensed premises or on your property. The welfare standards for home killing must conform to those given under the MAF Animal Welfare (Commercial Slaughter) Code of Welfare 2006.
• Home killing of livestock is subject to legal restrictions because of concerns that home-killed meat which has not been inspected by an approved government inspector in a licensed slaughtering facility may get into the export meat trade and threaten market standards.
  
• Our export markets view this as a risk, and farmers who kill stock for home consumption need to fully appreciate this. The risk is not so much with those who understand and stick to the law, it’s the illegal operators who are the worry and those who are tempted to look for and buy “cheap meat”, some of which is of very suspect origin and without a doubt is a human health risk.
• “Home kill” is the slaughtering and butchering of your own animals, either by yourself or by a licensed home-kill butcher for your own consumption which includes your family and household.
• A “family” normally includes parents, children and grandparents and does not include an extended family living elsewhere. Great grandparents miss out!
• A “household” are the normal occupants of a house and does not include an institution or tourist accommodation.
• Only animal owners who are actively engaged in the day-to-day maintenance of an animal, or keep animals of the same kind for a period of 28 days, may use home kill. In other words – someone making a serious attempt to farm them and not just dealing in stock.
• Home killed meat cannot be sold, raffled, or bartered for goods or services. It would not even be wise to give it away.
• You can feed home kill meat to your staff if they are regular employees, and they can feed it to their families. You cannot feed casual workers or contractors or your vet, accountant or bank manager, and you cannot feed home kill to paying guests.
• It’s very important to use a home kill butcher with a good reputation for producing top meat. A freezer full of tough meat is not a good prospect, nor is the nagging concern that you may think you didn’t get all your own beast back from the butcher, or why you have so much mince!
• When killed on the farm, the beast is shot from a short distance in the paddock with or near its herd mates so stress levels are very low. This single shot should put the beast down and it should not need more than one shot to kill it.
• It is very important to realise that under the Animal Welfare Act 1999, all animals must be slaughtered in a humane way without causing any pain or stress to them or their herd mates.
• Cutting the animal’s throat is not acceptable as humane, and it must first be shot correctly with a rifle or captive bolt pistol before sticking (bleeding).
• Generally other stock in the paddock don’t realise what has happened to their mate that has suddenly dropped down. However, if you want more than one beast killed there could be problems if other stock then realise what’s going on and may smell blood.
• As soon as the selected beast has been shot, then quietly move the others out of sight and smelling distance, and give them some hay to occupy them.
• Some operators will bury the offal on your farm or will take it away for disposal in an approved site. This will be part of the charge.
• Check with MAF for the latest regulations on home kill and for regulations to provide meat for Marae and ethnic and religious groups.
• Realise the potential hazards with home killing of meat. You would do well to consider sending a beast away off the farm to a licensed slaughter facility to be killed and processed. Then at least you have no human safety concerns, animal stress or food safety issues to be concerned about.
• Before you fill the freezer, check it with a thermometer to make sure it’s reaching the correct temperature and tape the plugs into the sockets. Also lay some rat poison near the freezer as they love the plastic on the cable and you don’t want to come back from holiday and find a freezer full of nice pink water with your meat floating in it!
• And remember that not all of a beast is fillet steak! Just think of all that fatty mince the family is going to have to eat. Consider spending the money the home kill will cost you on prime steak when your supermarket runs specials.
• If you are tempted to get the beast’s hide cured to make a rug, then you’ll have to deliver the rather unsavoury skin to a proper tannery that will accept single hides if you want a proper job done. Don’t try to home-tan a cattle beast’s hide - they usually end up like a sheet of plywood with turned up edges! And how can you walk on the skin of a beast that may have been your friend?
  

Disclaimer
This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

The Dosin 'O the Hoggs - Part 1

Border Shepherding - Prevention of Braxy


By Clive Dalton

In our “Daft Laddies” book, on this blog Don Clegg and I report the story about “Braxy Mutton” in which our great friend, the late Willie Robson gives details of the performance when he shepherded ootbye at Willow Bog, to prepare a concoction of pig dung and fresh milk to dose the hoggs to prevent them dying of “Braxy”, a disease we now know is caused by the Clostridial group of bacteria.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the cause of the disease was a mystery, so anything was worth a try to kill whatever was in the sheep’s innards that caused such rapid death. Imagine the despair of a shepherd going out in a morning to find his best hoggets dead and blown up, because the nature of Clostridial diseases like Braxy is that it’s most commonly found in the better bigger hoggets that are doing well and it kills rapidly with large amounts of gas produced in the intestines. The runts in the flock never seem to be affected in the same way.

Goodness knows who ever came up with the idea of a pig-dung brew as a preventative – but anything would be worth a try.

So here’s it’s story which was both recited and sung at many a Shepherd’s supper in Northumberland and is still a well-loved party piece.

There seems to be no record of an author, so I’d be interested in any information about such this perceptive knowledgeable person who clearly understood the problem, the way to make the brew as well as local scepticism.
(Spiered – sought opinion)

Some magnificent Blackface ewe lambs/hoggs from Sundaysight at Bellingham mart in 2003. It was sheep like these that lived with the threat of Braxy before modern vaccines.
(Photo copyright of Helen Brown)

Acknowledgement: To Helen Brown for permission to use her material. She can be contacted at Burnbank Cottage, Tarset, Hexham, Northumberland, NE 48 1LY. Phone 240-427

Animal behaviour and welfare: General

ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR AND WELFARE: PART 3

Learning: Teaching: Pain & suffering: Problem analysis: Human-animal relations

By Dr Clive Dalton

Learning and teaching
There's plenty of evidence that animals can learn from simple to complex routines and it's clearly easier for them to learn things related to the innate behaviour of their species.

When we want to teach animals routines or change their behaviour, then a number of standard methods can be used:

• Classical conditioning by repeat presentation of a "conditioned stimulus" with an "unconditioned stimulus".
• Operant or instrumental conditioning by offering constant reinforcing stimuli with a reward.
  
• Habituation by learning not to respond to repeated stimuli. There is lack of reinforcement following the response, e.g. so the animal will eventually ignore the stimulus.
• Latent learning by using curiosity and exploration. It's learning without a clear reward. The learned behaviour is not expressed but lies latent.
• Insight learning by the animal seeing a solution immediately. For example the chimp that got the bananas by using a short stick to reach long stick to reach the banana.
• Imprinting. The classical work here is Lorenz and his geese. Birds follow the first thing they see after hatching and it was Lorenz on whom they were imprinted for the rest of their lives
  

More comment - Classical Conditioning (CC)
This is one of the main ways we teach animals, and it's the basis of a lot of animal retraining or correction. It was made famous by Pavlov and his dog experiments. Here is what he did:

• Dogs salivate when they see food and it's an easy visual response which is an innate behaviour of dogs.
• Pavlov rang a bell when the dog was fed.
• Eventually the dog would salivate for the bell anticipating the arrival of food.
• When not fed, the dog eventually stopped salivating for the bell.
• This is called "extinction" of a learned response.
• Fed again with the bell and the stimulus was reversed back to the food.
  

• A period of "association" is built between the two stimuli (old and new) for long enough so the new one becomes learned and appears to be instinctive.
• Before the animal shows an extinction behaviour, it may increase it's response to test if it will be rewarded before giving up. This is called an "extinction burst" and can be serious, e.g. cat pushing ornaments off to get attention.
• Many classical conditioning responses are complex and hence difficult to solve. This is where there is more than one stimulus involved - some of which you may not be aware of.
• In academic terms CC uses the relationship between a "response" and a "conditioned stimulus" (CS).
• The response works because it is caused by an "unconditioned stimulus" (UCS) - such as something that is innate.
• You then use the CS to trigger the UCS.
• A very important point is that you do NOT use "rewards" given by the handler to get a response.
  

More comment - Operant Conditioning (OC)

• This was made famous by a researcher called Skinner who used the "Skinner box" where rats were trained by a mild electric shock. When they failed to respond they got a shock and when successful they got a feed.
  
• Electric shocks were not essential which he demonstrated in other experiments with pigeons. When faced with two choices they got grain for a positive response and no grain for a negative one.
• Many other experiments have been carried out with poultry to select different kinds of cage environments and with large farm animals where they have been trained to press nose pads to make choices between feeds.
• Note that Operant Conditioning works using rewards. These can range from food, fussing, patting, play, voice tone, access to favourite areas, being allowed to explore or mix with mates, and many more.
• Rewards must be given at the same time as the response to be learned or within seconds afterwards. Similarly reprimands must be instant, and preferably not associated by the animal to the owner.
• Only when the response is well learned can the frequency of rewards be gradually reduced. You need to keep an occasional reward going to maintain anticipation and interest.
• A good example of this is the use of a "clicker" for training animals. The animal is trained with food rewards along with a click, and then the click on it's own will get the response. The association between food and click can be reinforced at required intervals if the response drops off. Clicker training is used for dogs and horses.
  

Pain and suffering

• This is a very important area of animal behaviour and welfare and has huge legal implications when prosecutions have to be made under the law. For further information see the MAF Code of Welfare No. 17. Care and use of animals for scientific purposes - p. 38.
  

Fears and phobias

Some fears are essential for survival but when extreme become phobias. When threatened mammals have four major defence responses:

• Flight - withdraw from the threat.
• Immobility - crouch and lies still to avoid detection.
• Deflection/appeasement - actively submit to the attacker.
• Fight - defensive aggression to attacker Some phobias seem to be partly caused by innate sensitivity e.g. animals with snakes. But many phobias contain a learned component. It can be a "conditioned reaction" to a fearful experience.
• Phobias cannot be cured by repeated exposure to the full stimulus. They can however be "unlearned" by "systematic desensitisation using very mild exposures to the cause so as not to create anxiety. This is gradually increased until the full stimulus can be accepted.

Growth and Development

• Growth, development and age have an important effect on animal behaviour and welfare so it's important to realise how animals grow.
  
• Growth takes the form of an S-shaped curve starting at conception, moving slowly to birth and then rapidly up through puberty to slow down at maturity.
• After conception the brain and central nervous system (CNS) have first call on nutrients provided by the mother. In the last weeks of pregnancy the foetus increases in weight.
• From birth through puberty to maturity tissues grow in order of bone, muscle then finally fat. But this can vary with feed supply as fat can be laid down in young animals if fed on a very high plane of nutrition. During this growth body proportions change.
  

Birth
This is a critical phase and can be traumatic for both dam and offspring.

Dam problems

• Paralysis
• Retained foetal membranes (RFM)
• Delayed return to normal breeding - anoestrus
• Bonding
• Uterine infections
• Teat and udder problems
  

Offspring problems:

• Hypothermia (37C drop to zero)
• Exposure/Starvation
• Dystocia
• Teat seeking problems
• Bonding
• Mismothering and neglect
  

Puberty

• This is the age of sexual maturity and when sexual behaviour starts.
  
• The animal has innate mating instincts but it still has to learn and practice to be effective.
• Puberty is dictated more by live weight than age.
• Genetics are involved as animals have been selected by farmers for early or late sexual maturity.
• Territorial issues start to be seen.
• Hierarchy issues start to apply.
  

Maturity

• Here animals reach mature weight expressing their genetic potential.
• If of large size and weight, this may pose mating problems.
• There are many diseases of old age:
• Arthritis
• Cancer
• Kidney failure
• Feet
• Teeth
• Obesity
• Failing sight
• Low appetite
• Low libido and mating problems
• There are people problems, e.g. aging pets, death and dignified disposal.
• There are marketing issues, e.g. deciding on slaughter weights to fit market needs.

Analysing a behaviour problem

• When faced with an animal behaviour "problem", there are many aspects to be examined before a conclusion can be drawn and a solution formulated. Here are some things that must be done first:
• Interview the person who has the "animal problem" and take detailed notes. Listen to what they see as the problem. List what they have tried, how they did it and what happened.
• Was the problem obvious?
• Did it appear to be simple or complex? Observe the situation in detail with an open mind.
  
• Make detailed record or what the animal does and what happens in the environment. This is called an "ethogram".
• Form a hypothesis - what you think is the problem, and then try to test this to confirm that your conclusions were correct.

Check list
The human (companion animal owner)

• What basic knowledge do they have about the animal?
• What is their age and how active are they?
• Their sex?
• Marital status – its stability and length of relationship?
• The people in the client's hierarchy?
• Has this changed recently?
• Who in the household has most interaction with the animal?
• Is this the truth – e.g. Is someone else quietly feeding it?
• Children - the number, their ages and sex?
• How do these kids get on with each other? Is there an aggressive hierarchy among the kids?
• House - the size and the area the animal may be allowed in and who sets these rules?
• Garden - the size and how important it is to the owner, and any restrictions for the animal?
• The general "lifestyle" of the family and the part the animal plays in this?
  

The human (farm animal owner)

• Who is “the farmer”?
• Who says they are the farmer but who is making the decisions?
• Their sex? e.g. Is it Mum or Dad, or the sons/daughters who are in control of stock management?
• What is the general attitude to animals on the farm?
• What is the state of the property e.g. general tidiness?
• What is the current feed status and are there any feed reserves?
• Are there plans for an emergency e.g. Floods or snow storms?
• What is the economic status of the business?
• What’s the owner’s attitude to “regulations and authorities”?
• What’s their attitude to their veterinarian?
• How stressed does the owner(s) appear?
• How well cared for are the family pets?
  

The animal

• What species - keeping in mind species-specific behaviour and innate ability.
• Breed - its importance in size, tractability and living space needed.
• Age - young an active or geriatric and sedentary.
• Sex- entire or desexed and at what age was it done?
• Hierarchy - where does the animal appear to fit in the family, flock or herd?
• Diet- what is the diet or feed supply and have there been changes?
• Are there sources of feed for emergencies?
• Exercise - how much exercise is allowed?
• Territory- what is the size of the "home range"?
• What information do you need to collect to solve the problem? (An ethogram)
  

Animal behaviour and welfare: Poultry Part 1

POULTRY BEHAVIOUR PART 1

Origin: Senses: Social behaviour

By Dr Clive Dalton

Poultry origin and behaviour

• Modern poultry were domesticated fairly early in man's development from wild jungle fowl still found today in open forest habitats throughout the world. The ancestors of the domestic fowl soon learned to live with man in confined areas.
• Domestication and early selection of these birds developed such traits as leanness, aggression, activity, pecking, leg slashing, social responsiveness and particular colours of feathers that were used for decoration.
• In later historic times such as in the Roman Empire, egg and meat production received emphasis and was greatly improved.
• The modern laying hen and broiler chicken have both attracted more concern about their behaviour and welfare than any other farm animal.
• This is because of the intensive systems in which they are kept - seen as "factory farming" which has gained an international negative image.
  

Senses

Sight

• Chick embryos respond to light as early as 17 days after the start of incubation.
• A hen cannot rotate its eye very much but they can see a field of 300 , with a binocular field of 26.
• Hens follow moving objects using the mobility of their head.
• Their acuity (sharpness) is good and they have good distance vision.
• They characteristically lift their heads before jumping and tests have shown that they can discriminate between squares, triangles and red and black dots.
• Studies show newly-hatched chicks prefer to peck at blue objects rather than green or orange ones, although orange is preferred before green but not before red.
• Chicks can differentiate between red-dyed liquid and blood. Blood was very aversive.
• Chicks learn quickly to avoid coloured feed if it makes them ill, and prefer to peck at round rather than flat objects.
  

Smell

• Not much is known about how important smell is to poultry.
• Hens are not keen on food that smells of mould or is sour, so presumably smell is involved in this feed rejection.
• It's suggested that birds can definitely smell blood.
  

Hearing

• Hens don't have an ear lobe but they have a well-developed ear.
• Calls produced by hens range from 250 cpm (the broody hen "cluck") to about 3000 cpm (the distress call).
• Studies confirmed hens can hear sounds as high as 8000 cpm.
• Hens hear in a range from 60-11950Hz with highest sensitivity from 815-2000 Hz which is their normal hearing range.
  

Taste

• Hens have about 340 taste buds mainly on the palate and floor of their oral cavity.
• They are rather indifferent to sugars but can detect glucose to about 2.5% in solution.
• They tolerate a range of acid and alkaline tastes, and are sensitive to and avoid salty feeds.
• Taste determines whether a hen accepts or rejects a feed and similarly to water.
• Hens can detect water temperature differences of 2.8 C. They will reject water that rises 5.5 C above their body temperature although they will readily drink freezing water.
  

Touch

• Stroking, rotating and turning hens upside down will immobilise a hen for various periods of time.
• In this state, although fully alert to their sensory surroundings, they can be conditioned or gentled to humans or other frightening objects.
• After return to normal, they will show reduced fear to the conditioned object.
• Touching the back of a hen will often cause it to respond by a sexual crouch, especially if it is low in social rank.
  

Learning ability

• Hens soon learn to pull, tug, peck and scratch, and their general natural activity means they will work at tasks for quite long periods.
• Hens have limited ability to generalise, i.e. they stick to the task in hand and don't drift off target.
• They are good at visual discrimination tasks.
• Their limited flexibility may be an advantage in intensive conditions where they will not be bored as quickly as a species like the pig that can generalise.
• In maze tests hens ranked after man, pig, dog, goat and before rat, rabbit, cat and turtle in ability to remember.
• In a Hebb-Williams closed-field test, hens ranked after dogs, cows, sheep, pigs, cats, rats and ferrets but better than pigeons, guinea pigs or possums.

Social behaviour

Vocal communication

• Being a social bird from the open forest, the hen has developed a wide range of sounds for communication.
• Studies have classified 12 chick calls and 22 calls by adults. These range from clucks, cackles, chirps and cries to keep in contact with mates.
• Calls heard most often and recognised by humans are food calls, predator alarms, pre- and post-laying calls and roosters crowing. Others are more specific which humans find hard to identify.
• Another classification describes these:
• Vocal calls related to fear and predators
• Physiological calls to do with brooding, feeding, contact and pleasure
• Signals expressing pain, frustration, fighting and crowing.
• There's a well-recognised daily pattern of crowing near dawn followed by feeding calls, egg-laying calls and finally roosting calls. Chicken distress calls immediately get the attention of their broody mother, and the regular "cluck -cluck" is a reassuring call from the mother to the chicks.
• Large groups of hens can create very high noise levels. They are around 72-87dB at normal times, 73-100 dB at feeding and 75-85 dB during egg laying.
• A study showed that laying hens were affected by levels above 83dB, while higher levels induced fear and panic.
  

Body posture

• When hens can see each other, they communicate by body postures e.g. head up or down, tail up or down, feathers spread or not.
• The tail is especially important and studies of feral birds showed that they stood upright with tail erect with wings diamond-pointed almost vertically down. This is called "wing-down alert".
• Body postures are particularly important to dominant males to send messages to his harem and possible competitors for his job.
• Individual recognition.Studies have shown that birds recognise each other using a combination of comb, head and wattle. Single elements were more difficult for hens to recognise, but the comb was the simplest.
• Colour changes to plumage were noticed, with intense colours more easily seen than pale colours.
• Only abrupt and very dramatic changes cause a hen to be treated as a stranger.
  

Pecking and peck order

• Pecking is very much a species-specific behaviour of hens. Hens peck to:
• Release them from the shell.
• To find feed and eat it.
• To drink.
• To obtain space.
• To get recognition from others.
• To mate.
• And many more highly sophisticated actions.
• Hens maintain a personal space around their heads and keep a distance from each other by holding their heads at an angle and maintaining a specific body orientation.
• If a direct head-to-head stance is taken, then pecking will ensue.
• The main purpose of pecking is in eating and it's a very precisely tuned movement of the head and neck, the feed being first picked up and then in a further movement of the head, it is swallowed.
• Incorrect timing of these movements would severely jar the neck. The bird's binocular vision is important in judging the distance to peck with the eye membranes closed at the moment of impact.
• The relationship of body stance and head position is important during pecking attacks. These include threats in which one bird lifts its head above the level of the other bird's head, then pecks the comb, head, neck or nape, wattles and then chases the subordinate away.
• If two birds face up to each other to fight, they peck, kick with their feet and slash with their spurs. Crouching or running away shows submission. These fights are not common outdoors but they increase as stocking rates increase towards 400 square cm/bird.
• In free-living birds, pecking is greatly reduced when males are present, as presumably the peck order is more clearly established.
• Pecking is often greatest in adolescent hens and observations have shown the incidence to be 30-50% greater on floors than in cages. Pecking was 70% higher when males were absent.
• Practical suggestions to help stabilise a peck order quickly to avoid any negative impact on egg production are:
• Form new groups of hens by mixing them before they start laying.
• Do not revolve birds around groups - leave them settled.
• Provide plenty of feed and watering points and plenty of floor space when the flock is settling.
• If two groups have to be mixed, put equal numbers of each subgroup together.
• Make sure males have been together in a group before mixing with the hens.
• Putting a male among hens will reduce pecking.
• Much of the pecking in caged birds occurs during feeding bouts, and depends on the feeder space and number of birds in the cage.
  

Dust bathing

• Hens love to dust bath, and it is clearly an innate behaviour.
  
• Dust bathing behaviour actions are even seen by birds bred with no feathers.
• We assume that hens dust bathe to control parasites and align their feathers. Normally free-living hens spend their time dispersed except when it comes to dust bathing, which they seem to love to do communally.
• Dust bathing is also thought to be a type of vacuum activity seen in birds that have been released from cages after at least 100 hours without a bath, or in birds with previous experience of the practice.
  
• Dust bathing usually starts with pecking into an area of dry dust, squatting in it, turning and raising dust into the feathers and then shaking it out again.
  

Preening and feather care

• In preening, the hen raises the feathers and cleans them by stroking and nibbling them with the beak.
• Grooming in the hen is described as actions related to maintaining body surface including preening with the beak, scratching with the foot, dust bathing and oiling.
• Oil is produced from the urophygial gland near the tail and birds use their beak to spread oil from it over their feathers.
• Hens preen or groom to remove lice, and females are more efficient groomers than males.
• Hens also spend more time grooming and using their oil gland than cocks.
  

Other comfort behaviours

• Bill wiping is seen after birds have been eating wet mash.
• The bird wipes one side of the beak on the ground, and in one continuous movement wipes the other side.
• Unilateral stretching of the leg and wing is also common comfort behaviour along with wing flapping while standing still.
  

Roosting or perching

• The feet of a bird are designed for holding on to branches while resting and roosting.
• The wild jungle fowl roosts up off the ground in a communal roost in the centre of its territory.
• Wild birds will also perch at different levels.
• Depriving birds of these behaviours is one of the main concerns with modern poultry husbandry.
  

Disclaimer

This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Animal behaviour and welfare: Poultry Part 2

POULTRY BEHAVIOUR PART 2

Reproduction: Nesting: Brooding: Hen & chicks: Chick behaviour

By Dr Clive Dalton

The male

• Males normally reach sexual maturity between 12-16 weeks old. This varies with management system and genetics, with the feeding and lighting regime having a major effect.
• Crowing by the male increases greatly between 24 and 68 weeks. Crowing is not related to the male's sex drive or ability to mate, but it does indicate a cock's general vigour of pre-mating courtship, and appears to be related more to aggression than fertility.
• Scoring males for sexual activity by counting the number of mounts in a given period does not appear to be very useful.
• Hatchability percentage and male mating ability can be used to measure commercial success in hatcheries and these traits are critical in profit. Hatchability has varied from 0-74% in some studies.
  
• Males have a very elaborate courting ritual. It has not changed from its Jungle Fowl ancestors.
• The cock approaches the hen that either runs, side-steps or crouches.
• This stimulates the male to waltz, trailing a wing before mounting.
• During mounting the cock treads with his feet on the hen's back.
• Then their vents (cloacas) come in contact and the male ejaculates.
• The cock steps off, may court again or stands, shakes himself and may run off.
  

Factors involved in success

• Previous mating experience by the male is important.
• Heavy-breed males court less and have fewer matings than light-breed males, but the heavies have higher sperm numbers.
• Females crouched more often for young males which did more mating than older males.
• High social-rank males initially mate more hens than low-ranked males, the advantage is short lived.
• In controlled environments, more matings occur 15 hours after lights on which means a peak (80%) between 4pm and 6pm depending on the lighting regime.
• Male/female ratios of 1:5, 1:10; 1:12, or 3:40 were equally successful.
• Changes in light pattern increase or stimulate male sperm production, though normal semen production occurs with standard light levels.
• Depriving males of water for 48 hours will reduce semen production for up to 6 weeks.
• High levels of iodine (5000 ppm) and mouldy feeds reduce sperm quality.
• Sperm production is improved in low temperatures.
• In sexually active males, massage will not produce semen as it will in low-activity cocks.
• Males will mate from 1 to 53 times a day.
• Males kept together will mount (tread) each other.
• Courtship. Caged males spend more time waltzing than colony males, the latter moving up on hens from the rear rather than the side.
• Males in floor pens did more fighting, courting and mating than those in colony cages. Females avoided males more in the floor pens.
• Bouncing insecure floors upset males more than rigid floors.
  

The capon

• This is a castrated male.
• Castration can be done surgically, removing the testicle through an incision in the body wall.
• It is also done by using oestrogenic hormone implants, if the market allows this practice. This will stop testicle, comb, and wattle growth.
• There is no need for this practice today as modern meat chickens grow at such a rate that castration produces no extra advantage.
  

The female

• The start of sexual behaviour is greatly affected by the environment, especially feeding, lighting regime and genetic strain.
• In the wild and in free-range systems, young females (pullets) show mating behaviour as early as 18 weeks of age, but this varies greatly.
• Most hens, regardless of breed, start to show mating behaviour 4-8 days before the start of the new laying season - whether there is a male present of not.
• Egg laying and nesting.The egg laying behaviour of hens is very elaborate, and selection of a nest is done with great care, often in association with the male.
• Studies have shown that nesting activity and ovulation are linked so a good nest favours high production.
• Nesting is characterised by secrecy and careful concealment, and nest selection has four phases.
• First - seeking a place to lay. This can be very protracted as the hen becomes restless, paces about giving the pre-laying call and showing characteristically body postures. In a deep litter laying house, she examines the walls and corners.
• Second - inspection of a number of possible sites between feeding, preening or sleeping, and finally pushing into one of them. Inside she continues her examination, lifting her legs with care with her neck horizontal.
• Third - settling, squatting, making a nest hole by crouching and rotating several times using her keel bone to shape the nest. Then she sits and lays, often standing to expel the egg.
• Fourth - after laying she may continue to examine the egg with her beak then rises and returns to the flock cackling.
• Nesting behaviour in cages: In the limited space of a cage, the hen adopts the same behavioural sequences but obviously their expression has to be modified.
• In a multiple-bird cage, which most commercial ones are, the hen about to lay searches the cage pushing other hens away. She may creep between the legs of other hens, sometimes 100 times before she settles.
• She spends laying time putting her head between the wires, pushing and often being pecked by birds in the next cage.
• Intentional movements to try to fly may be shown by tail extended and wings slightly raised. She may even try to climb the cage.
• Then suddenly she squats and lays. Her breathing rate is high and her calls are generally weak. Eggs are often laid in the same area of the cage before they roll away.
• Caged hens paces to fill up the time normally spent in the pre-laying behaviour seen in free-range birds. Pacing varies between strains from 100-2600 paces before laying.
• Birds have been recorded as spending 55% of their time resting, 21% eating, 17% laying and 7% drinking.
  

Nest design

• In the wild Jungle fowl, nesting is mainly on the ground in a bamboo habitat with semi darkness and shadow patterns.
• In domestic fowls, we want them to nest in boxes off the ground to keep eggs clean, but which still mimic their natural preferences.
• Generally one nest is needed for every four birds. Nests should be clean, and have ample litter such as straw (a favourite), shavings, sawdust, wood fibre, and so on. The key is to stop birds sleeping in the nest boxes or using them as roosts.
• The box should be large enough for the bird to turn round.
• Studies have shown a bird preference for a triangle-shaped entrance, and some for a square one. Boxes are best sited 450-500 mm above the ground litter.
• Leaving dummy eggs in the nest is an old trick to encourage hens to lay, but the hen is probably more attracted to the nest litter than the eggs.
• Some systems use communal nests of 60 x 200 cm that can accommodate 50 birds.
• Hens have been identified as those that prefer solitary nests, and others that prefer communal nests. Communal nests have more behavioural problems caused by shy birds not wanting to use them, and birds crowding inside them and keeping others out.
• Breeders use trap nests where the bird triggers a slide with her tail, and has to be let out manually after recording her Identification number with her egg.
  

Eggs and egg problems

• The wild Jungle fowl has a brood of about 6 chicks, with egg clutches from 2-10. Free-range commercial hens produce around 220 eggs/year, with those on deep litter around 245 and fully caged birds around 260 eggs/year.
  
• Cracked eggs are a problem and vary with the husbandry system. Risks are greater on wire floors than on litter. In cages the floor slope and wire gauge are among many variables concerned.
• Ground laying is natural in the wild fowl but eggs laid on the floor are a major loss in commercial poultry production. They have to be picked up and are dirty, and risk being broken and starting hens to eat their eggs.
• To change the behaviour and stop floor laying - these points are worth trying:
• Start with nest boxes on the floor and slowly raise them.
• Don't make the floor litter too deep. Use 7-8cm rather than 15cm of litter.
• Pick up all floor eggs regularly and put real or dummy eggs in the nest boxes.
• Direct access from roosts to nests will allow shy birds in to lay.
• Make the nests attractive with regularly renewed litter.
• Keep the nests in semi darkness. Make sure they are vermin proof.
• Try to eliminate dark corners in the pen.
  

Broody hens

• It's a strong innate behaviour of the hen that after she has laid a clutch of eggs, she goes broody and has a strong desire to sit on them. After brooding and rearing her chicks, the hen will probably moult her feathers before starting to lay again.
• Selection has been strongly against these traits in modern strains of laying hens as they take up time that should be used for production.
• To get good results from a broody hen, try these management tips below.
• Make a nest from a hollowed-out turf (grass up) which you can keep damp during incubation to maintain humidity in the nest. Line it with plenty of straw.
• Treat the broody for external parasites before sitting.
• Let her sit on a few dummy eggs for a few days to see if she will sit tight. Then replace them with the eggs to be hatched - usually 10-15.
• Allow the hen off the nest each day for exercise and feeding. Make sure she defecate and doesn't get constipated.
• If she won't move, lift her off making sure she has no eggs under her wings.
• Make sure she sits till all the chicks are hatched. This should be 20-21 days after setting.
  

The hen and her chicks

• Studies of wild fowl and free-range domestic hens show the importance of the very strong maternal behaviour that develops between the hen and her chicks.
• Chicks are very precocious and are active very soon after hatching. In the wild survival success depends on rapid bonding between mother and offspring.
• It's very important that chicks imprint on their mother after hatching. They'll follow any moving object, which contrasts with the background about one hour after hatching.
• Proper imprinting and bonding can take from 9-20 hours after hatching.
• The hen "clucks" and the chick "peeps" and the more the hen clucks the less the chicks peep.
• Chicks moving with their dam utter contentment twitters or distress cheeps. If the hen stops and calls, the chicks remain stationary. If she's too far away, the chicks peep and she goes to brood them.
• If the call of a strange mother is played, the chicks stay still for longer and peep less often. This reduces the chance of being attacked by a strange hen.
• The length and loudness of the call control chick behaviour, while the sound frequency leads to recognition of their own parent's voice.
• Chicks feed freely n the presence of their own dam's call while alien calls will halt feeding altogether.
• As chicks cannot recognise each other much before 10 days of age, the hen and her calling system keeps the brood together and prevents aggression among the chicks.
• The hen also teaches the chicks to react to food and predators.
  
• Chicks normally show fear 33-36 hours after hatching, but this is extended if they are kept in isolation. The experience of communal feeding needs to be achieved before 3 days post hatching.
• Wild spring hatched chicks have been recorded as walking over 3km/day with the hen walking closely with them for 24% of the time.
• Their active working day lasted 16 hours and the hen initiated most of the behaviour, especially feeding, tidbiting, pecking, and scratching the ground. She also prevented fights between chicks.
• A broody hen and her chicks will keep to themselves and threaten other hens that come within 6m.
• In the wild, chicks start to be left on the ground at nights by the dam at 5-6 weeks, when she returned to roost in a tree. By 10-12 weeks old when the chicks were feathered, the hen started to threaten them - their days with Mum were over.
• The hen allows her chicks to run ahead of her before weaning, but they walk behind her afterwards because she claims a higher social status.
• At 16-18 weeks old, the brood breaks up and adult behaviour patterns begin.
• A hen will accept strange chicks 2-5 days after hatching if they are the same colour as her own. Thereafter she may kill them.
  

Other chick behaviour

• Chicks are very active and when running, they extend their wings and flap them for use as breaks.
• They will jump on to feeders but do not perch till 4-6 weeks old.
• They stretch in a very precise way with a wing and leg on one side stretched out pointing to the rear with the wing primary feathers displayed.
• Chicks spend a lot of time chasing and if they turn, face up and stare at each other, this can lead to regular fights by 2 weeks of age. These fights are only between two birds at a time (usually males) where they grab at neck feathers and pull the adversary to the ground.
• Pecking and feather pulling clearly induce pain from day 13 and by day 18, weaker chicks can be pulled down and trodden.
• Dust bathing starts at day 3 and is a copied activity.
• Preening of wing and breast feathers may start at day 2, but no preen gland is used until day 14. The preening spells may last up to 4 minutes.
• Chicks will start picking at toes by day 10. If conditions are hot, dry and too bright, they'll pick at wing and tail feathers until they bleed as well as picking at pasted up vents.
• Chicks will pick at any bright object in the litter which may include nails and staples that can cause death if swallowed.
• Litter scratching is a very stereotypical action from day 2. Its best described as a scratch with the right leg, then two with the left, then one with the right and so on, while the litter is flicked over with the beak.
• The whole sequence takes about 15 seconds and occurs in the best-lit areas first. If the environment is too cold, litter may be eaten and the gizzard impacted.
• A study of chicks up to 10 weeks old showed many behavioural activities:
• Resting was high near hatching, declined till 3.5 weeks, rose to 8 weeks, then declined again.
• Females rested more than males.
• Leg stretching increased (especially in males) to a peak at 4-7 weeks old and then declined.
• Scratching increased in the first week, declined to almost nothing at 7 weeks and then reappeared at 9 weeks old.
• Preening increased with feather growth while running about decreased with age.
• Frolicking increased up to week 4 and then declined as sparring started and reached a peak at week 5.
• Agonistic (fighting) encounters replaced sparring by week 7 and this pecking reached a peak at 8 weeks by which time a clear peck order was established.
  

Temperature for chicks

• The chick's first response after hatching is to seek warmth and cover. They are very vulnerable to draughts. Body temperature at birth is 38.6 C rising to 40 C by day 9.
• If heating is inadequate, chicks huddle together in a semicircle facing outwards and can easily smother in corners away from draughts or in sunny spots.
• When too hot they disperse away from the heat source.
• Chicks will not move out into colder temperatures for food before 5-7 days.
• Low rearing temperatures (e.g. 19.5°C) will slow growth, cause earlier feathering but increase size of organs such as the heart, thyroid and adrenal glands compared to chicks reared at 30°C.
  

Drinking behaviour of chicks

• Chicks dehydrate quickly at the high temperatures of rearing, so they must find water quickly after hatching and learn to drink.
• Drinking often starts with the chick pecking at a bubble, and some water movement helps to start them drinking.
• A good idea is to lay paper on the floor and place the feed and water on that. The chicks will discover both by pecking. Remove the paper after a week as it will be soiled and by then they should all have learned.
• Be guided by the smallest chicks as they'll be slowest to learn.
• Provide 24 hours of light at this very vulnerable learning stage.
• By 3½ weeks, a chick will have drinking sessions of a minute long, and drink 11 times with a few seconds pause between each.
• Chick drinks by placing the beak in the water, scooping up a beak-full which is then swallowed by holding the head horizontally or slightly raised.
• Drinker design has an important effect on chick drinking behaviour. Some trough designs are better than others at encouraging social facilitation in drinking, and some encourage roosting on the drinker. This is a fertile area for behavioural research.
  

Eating behaviour of chicks

• Food recognition by the chick is complex.
• They will peck indiscriminately at various objects in their environment such as sand grains, shiny objects, other chicks and so on. They achieve success in finding food mostly by trial and error.
• If reared by a broody hen, the advantages of being taught by her tidbiting for food are obvious. She uses her vocal calls to encourage and guide them to eat the food items she indicates.
• The use of glitter tape around the troughs or glass marbles among the feed is sometimes used to encourage chicks to start eating. Some starter feeds are often made up into three-dimensional crumbs to be more attractive, and feed is often placed on egg trays for the same purpose.
• Studies showed that with a 10 hour light day regime, chicks up to 3 days old only spent 30% of their time eating, but by day 10, this had increased to nearly 60%.
• Chicks ate 34 times/day on day 3 and 123 times/day on day 10. Other chicks were observed to eat solid feed 30-25 times/day and they drank water 22-45 times/day.
• As age increases, the number of feeding times dropped but total feed eaten increased.
  

Disclaimer
This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Animal behaviour and welfare: Poultry Part 3

POULTRY BEHAVIOUR Part 3

Beak trimming: Chick handling: Lighting: Stocking density

By Dr Clive Dalton

Beak trimming

• Beaks are trimmed to allow birds to eat but not peck each other. It's a very controversial practice and is high on the hit list of animal welfarists to be banned.
• For day-old chicks in New Zealand the Code of Welfare No. 18 states not more than 2mm should be trimmed off the beak and for 10-day old chicks, not more than 3mm off the beak.
• The Code says that further trimming should not be done unless there's a need to prevent cannibalism during the laying period. If properly done in the first place, further trimming should not be needed.
• Care is needed to have the blade sharp, at the correct heat, and to remove the correct amount of beak with least stress to the birds.
• Poor trimming can set a flock back by 2-3 weeks because of burnt tongues and nostrils that are slow to heal. This reduces feed and water intake, lowered body weight and production.
• Studies showed that pecks from birds with trimmed beaks were largely ignored, compared to pecks from intact beaks. Trimmed birds showed higher levels of pecking but trimming did not change social ranking. Indeed the trimmed birds had to peck more to maintain their social rank.
• In well-run cage systems where cannibalism is rare, beak trimming is not needed. The key point then is to fix the cause of cannibalism first, rather than see beak trimming as the solution.
  

Spectacles, polypeepers or blinkers

• To avoid the need for beak trimming, commercial plastic spectacles called "polypeepers" were developed.
• These are clipped on the beak of the bird so she cannot see forward to aim a peck at another bird.
• Welfarists don't see them as a popular solution to pecking and peck damage, but studies have shown them to be effective, and birds had freer access to feed.
• It takes a while for birds to get used to them and after about a month, birds studied were shown to produce more eggs for less feed and were much quieter than before.
• Their use depends on convenience of fitting them and replacing losses. They seem to have gone out of fashion.
• They are not recommended for use in New Zealand under normal circumstances.
  

Other mutilations

• Dubbing where the wattles of birds are trimmed (cauterised) to stop injury by pecking from other birds is not recommended in the MAF Code of Welfare No.18.
• Restricting the flight of birds by de-winging, pinioning, notching or tendon severing is considered to be cruel and not recommended by the MAF Code of Welfare No.18.
• Toe trimming is sometimes necessary in some free-range situations and the MAF Code of Welfare No. 18 says that if performed should be limited to the nail of the toe only.
  

Early handling of chicks

• The influence of early handling (before day 3) showed improved growth, more resistance to E.coli and an improved ability to cope with stress in later life.
• It clearly seems worthwhile for attendants to deliberately handle birds gently, speaking to them quietly and doing some feeding from the hand.
• This was called providing TGC - Tender, Gentle, Care.
• Frequent visits by attendants in this early stage are important. However it's hard to imagine any of this behavioural conditioning being done in large commercial outfits.
  

Feeding

• As modern poultry are selected for high performance - there is constant pressure on nutritionists to come up with diets that would meet the needs of these birds, whether they are layers or broilers. The massive pressure to reduce the price of eggs and meat to the consumer has driven this.
• Progress by nutritionists increases the challenge for the geneticists to find birds to exploit new diets, and vice versa. The incredible progress made has triggered plenty of behavioural problems and concern by welfarists.
• Concern for Feed Conversion Efficiency (FCE) has put emphasis on reducing size, so the bird's appetite would normally have been affected. This has been dealt with by selecting for appetite and developing very highly concentrated diets.
• Feed is the major cost (70-80%) in poultry production, and preventing waste has been important. Equipment designers have been challenged to stop birds wasting feed.
• Flicking feed from their trough as they eat is common. It seems as if the birds are sorting through to find more attractive pellets.
• Regular disturbance of the feed is done mechanically to provide some visual stimulus for the bird and maintain its interest.
• After eating, bored birds will drink and then regurgitate their stomach contents back into the trough - called polydipsia. This creates great interest by the other cage members who eat it ravishingly. It's very wasteful of feed.
• Both young and old birds soon learn to drink water from nipples that are triggered by a pecking action.
  

Lighting

• Modern poultry producers control the sexual development of laying birds and their subsequent egg production by modifying the lighting pattern. In general, birds are stimulated by increasing day length.
• There is a whole range of patterns used for laying hens. They may be "step-up" or "step-down" and light intensity can be changed.
• Birds seem to treat the longest dark period as night and the resumption of light as dawn. It seems that laying birds need no more than 17 hours of light for optimal production.
  

Stocking density

• Stocking density is another factor of great concern to welfarists. It is a major factor along with Feed Conversion Efficiency in profit.
• There are three main variables to consider in stocking density:
  

What is best for the bird?

• What conditions give maximum output for the enterprise?
• What colony size and space gives best economic return?
• Studies show that decreased area/bird reduced egg production, lowered body weight and increased mortality. (Currently most caged laying birds live on an area the size of an A4 sheet of paper).
• Increasing colony size depressed egg production, raised food consumption and increased mortality. These effects are independent and additive so you can get one or all of them at once.
  

Moulting

• Birds lose their feathers or moult when egg laying stops at the end of the season.
• A new generation of feathers grows and pushes the old ones out taking about 8-12 weeks to complete.
  
• This is seen as unproductive time in modern production systems so birds are not kept for a second season.
• Some producers cull up to 25 % of birds before a second season as egg number/bird is 20% lower, egg size is increased but quality and shell texture is lower.
• Breeders have selected strongly to reduce this moulting time - putting extra pressure on the bird to produce.
• To await the long wait for a full moult, some producers induce a "forced moult" by reducing feed and water intake, and reducing light. Anti-ovulatory drugs can also be used as well as an unbalance of minerals in the diet.
• This forced moult technique extends the birds normal pause which is the natural interval of 2-3 days after the hen has laid one egg/day for 6 days. There is debate as to whether an extended pause only is needed or whether a pause plus a moult is better.
• There is little pecking between hens during the moult, but it increases during the recovery period, especially around feed hoppers. Studied showed that hens that pecked a lot also showed higher feed intake.
• Hens have been shown to tolerate some force moulting regimes with no serious problems.
• The MAF Code of Welfare No. 18 says that forced moulting should only be done on healthy hens, under close management scrutiny and conditions that will not cause stress. Methods that totally deprive hens of food and water for more than 48 hours must not be used.
  

Animal behaviour and welfare: Poultry Part 4

POULTRY BEHAVIOUR PART 4

Layer housing systems: Feeding rhythms

By Dr Clive Dalton

Free range

• This is the traditional way laying hens were kept and still has the image of "farm fresh" eggs where birds have their complete freedom to live as nature intended.
• Low profits from free-range hens have been the driving force behind the move to intensification. But there are other disadvantages of free range listed below:
• Little protection from the weather
• More labour needed for feeding, egg collecting and moving houses.
• More feed/dozen eggs needed.
• The bird's diet may be unbalanced.
• Dirty eggs and fouled pastures.
• Lower egg quality, stale eggs and offensive flavours.
• Birds run risk of diseases from soil-borne infections.
• Greater incidence of internal and external parasites.
• Risks from predators.
• Poor working environment for staff.
• A very low percentage of producers use the system is only likely to remain if there is overwhelming pressure from Welfarists, and consumers are prepared to pay up to 20% more for eggs.
• Behaviour problems are few on this system as the unlimited space allows low-ranking birds freedom to escape molestation.
  
• Feather pecking can occur and may need beak trimming.
  
• Egg eating can be a problem as it's difficult to find the offending birds to cull them. Egg eating seems to start when birds discover a broken egg and find the contents attractive. Then they learn to break them with their beaks and are very hard to break from the habit.
  
• Filling eggs with mustard or bitter tasting flavours usually doesn't deter them. Culling is the best option before other birds learn from them. The problem is to find them - either by catching them in the act or looking for egg yolk on their beaks.
  

Slatted or wire floors

• Here hens are kept on totally slatted or wire mesh floors at high densities, e.g. up to 0.09 m²/bird.
• The system tries to be a compromise between cages and deep litter.
• Nest boxes are accessible from outside to avoid disturbing the birds.
• A perching area is the main feature of this system and is built over a dropping pit which is cleaned out once a year.
• The main behavioural concerns in these houses are as follows:
• Nests must be placed near the perching area.
• Eggs can be gathered easily.
• Ventilation system can handle the foul air from the droppings pit.
• Floor eggs can be a major problem if nesting boxes are not attractive.
• Long narrow pens are best to reduce interaction between birds.
• Inspection by the attendant can cause panic and bruising.
  

Deep litter

• Here, birds of all types are kept on litter at various stocking densities with full or partial environmental control.
• They are seen by those concerned about hen welfare as a much more acceptable system than cages.
• The litter is usually sawdust, although straw is used (called straw yards).
• Behaviour problems in deep litter houses include:
• Drop in egg production.
• Increased aggression - feather and vent pecking.
• Increased mortality from disease.
• Feed wastage.
• Floor laying.
• Here are some points to consider when trouble shooting:
• Temperature, humidity and ventilation.
• Access to feed.
• Condition of the litter - is it wet or dry.
• Ammonia smell.
• Lighting pattern and intensity - check time clocks.
• Stocking density.
• Beak trimming or spectacles - may be needed.
• Birds in large houses keep to specific areas, and don't range widely through the house.
• Social orders are set up within these territories, so although they are free to move, there are strict social limits on their mobility.
• Birds can recognise about 11 other birds and stay in that group to avoid being pecked when they move outside their territory.
• Studies showed that the area over which a bird ranges varies greatly between houses, some being much larger than others.
• Thus the notion of individual or personal space is more acceptable in birds on litter than that of territory and home range.
  

Battery cages

• Welfarists and the public in many countries are trying to ban the battery cage, and in some they have succeeded. Currently the RNZSPCA are working hard to ban them in New Zealand.
• Producers use the battery cages for a number of reasons:
• Birds can be fed a complete and balanced diet.
• It's easy to maintain total environmental control.
• Egg eating is less likely.
• Inspection of birds is easy.
• Catching birds is easy.
• Parasites and disease are easy to control - if the system is good.
• Birds bred for cages will have high egg production.
• The eggs will be clean and of high quality.
• These points carry little weight in the minds of welfarists as they see birds in cages almost denuded of feathers, fighting for space and unable to express the fifth freedom to express normal behaviour.
• To increase profits, the single cage soon became the multiple cage housing from 2-4 birds. Then the multiple cage got bigger and became a colony cage.
• Producers used to consider 460cm²/bird to be near an economic optimum but welfarists stressed that 500cm²/bird was better and if possible it should be raised to 600 cm2/bird.
• In New Zealand the height of all new cages installed after 1 January 1997 had to be at least 40cm over 65% of the cage floor area and not less than 35cm at any other point.
• Similarly the slope of the floor must not exceed 8 degrees for new cages after 1 January 1997.
  

Behaviour in cages

• There is great pressure on designers to improve the environment for the caged bird. The problem is that when space is increased and the bird allowed choices, the size of the cage has to be increased - with an associated rise in costs.
• Various designs have included a dark nest box and a lighted scratch area. A major problem with these more complex cages is that inspection of the birds is still difficult.
• Solid sides to the cage have helped to prevent feather pecking from birds in adjacent cages.
• Poor trough design, sharp edges and incorrect wire placement on the cage front cause feather wear on the throat. Horizontal bars are better than vertical bars as they allow greater feed access with less pecking.
• Correct trough depth is also important to prevent neck blisters.
• Sandpaper on the trough lip next to the bird will help ensure that claws are worn down and feet shape is improved.
• Injuries (up to 3.5%) can occur to birds such as getting their necks, wings, legs and combs caught between the bars, depending on cage design and manufacture.
• It's important for equipment designers to understand the difference between density and crowding- remembering a bird is most concerned about having adequate personal space around its head.
• Density is the number of birds/unit area or unit space, but crowding is a product of density, contact, communication and activity. Crowding contains psychological factors as well as physical ones.
• Cracked eggs can be a major problem on wire floors. Cracks occur when eggs hit the floor after being laid, and cage design is very much involved. Floor mass, the slope, height of egg drop (which varies with the size of the bird) and the angle the egg is presented from the cloaca are all involved.
• In cages, more cracked eggs occur on heavy gauge wire floors which birds prefer over finer gauge wire.
  

Feeding and drinking rhythms

• In caged birds living in 16 hours of daylight, three main periods of eating have been recorded.
• The two main ones are at the start and end of the light period, and the third one was less fixed. Most feed is eaten at the last period of the day.
• When kept in continuous light, birds also engaged in regular rhythmic bouts if they could detect any changes like temperature fluctuations or feeding times to allow patterns to be formed.
• Egg laying rhythm also helped birds to develop feeding rhythms.
• Social facilitation is important in hens and results in greater feed intake. Group-fed birds are calmer and more relaxed about eating. This behaviour is useful if all birds are producing well but triggering low producers to eat is counter productive and unprofitable.
• In free-range birds, scratching is also part of the eating ritual and a hungry hen scratches more than a satiated one.
• Running with food in the beak to avoid competitors is a regular habit of young chicks, but it's seen in free-range hens too.
• Water is vital for high producing birds. Egg number and size are affected within 48 hours of water being cut off.
• Drinking rhythm is closely related to feeding rhythm.
• Food and water are not taken in at night and intake of both peaks at the last feed bout before dark.
• Within a temperature range of 18 - 24°C, intakes of both are regular and stable. However in heat waves, water intake may increase by 50% in the afternoon when most water is taken.
• As pullets grow, they change their major water intake from morning to afternoon.
• A laying hen needs about 170ml water/day and maximum water intake is related more to body recovery after laying than to ovulation.
• When birds, especially pullets are moved to new quarters, some of their old familiar waterers should be moved with them until they learn to use the new ones.
  

Disclaimer:
This material is provided in good faith for information purposes only, and the author does not accept any liability to any person for actions taken as a result of the information or advice (or the use of such information or advice) provided in these pages.

Animal behaviour and welfare: Poultry Part 5

POULTRY BEHAVIOUR PART 5

Meat chickens: Management

By Dr Clive Dalton

The meat (broiler) chicken

• The broiler chicken industry shows what can be achieved by applied science. Geneticists and nutritionists have cooperated to produce a bird that takes 40 days to mature instead of 80 days.
• It converts 1.95 - 2.20kg of feed into 1kg of body weight from which 0.7kg of carcass is produced. These values are constantly being improved.
• At day 1 a modern broiler weighs 45g and by day 42 it weighs 2200g - a 50 times increase in weight.
  
• Any lowering of performance will lower profits, so producers are very conscious of possible problems, many of which are expressed in behaviour of the birds.
• Profit is all about rapid growth, good feed conversion efficiency and low death rates. Below are some important husbandry pointers to profit and optimal welfare for the birds.
  

Management for good broiler welfare

• Adequate drinkers are essential and should be checked regularly.
• Good feeder design is important to allow the small birds to eat, prevent waste and blockages regardless of the type of feed.
• Broilers will eat more in a shorter time than non-meat birds. They have longer resting times and hence convert feed to live weight more efficiently.
• Birds should have access to food and water within about 2m of their area and there should be sufficient access to allow low-dominance and shy birds to feed.
• Physical form of the feed affects intake. Factors like whether the feed is hard or soft, and whether it's meal, crumbs or pellets as well as the size of the pellets.
• Removing stale feed and regular topping up of feeders is important whether manual or mechanical.
• Birds need good potable water free from contaminants, and if the water temperature rises, water intake will drop.
• Checking routines on all mechanical equipment and failsafe mechanisms with operator warnings are basic in any production plant.
• Good ventilation is essential, as high levels of ammonia and carbon monoxide can be serious. If the smell of ammonia is strong, then the ventilation system needs checking.
• The atmosphere should be dry and temperatures optimal with little variation.
• Stocking density. The most important time to get stocking rate right is in the last week or so before slaughter when if there are problems, greatest financial losses will occur.
• With current bird genotypes and management systems around 36-38 kg of live weight/square meter is recommended as a maximum in the Code of Welfare No. 22. At not time during the growing period must stocking rate exceed 40kg live weight/square meter.
• Chicks should be trained with a blackout period of about 15 minutes in each 24 hours to prevent panic is lights fail.
• There is great welfare concern over the catching and transport of broiler chickens. See the Code of Welfare No.22 for information.
  

Free range broilers

• The negative image of intensive broilers has opened up a market for more free-range meat chickens.
• As these birds run outdoors, all the problems associated with free-range egg production will apply.
  

Animal behaviour and welfare: Rabbits Part 1

RABBIT BEHAVIOUR PART 1

Image: Breeds: Handling: Euthanasia

By Dr Clive Dalton

The rabbit's image

• Rabbits have a terrible image in New Zealand because of the environmental devastation they have caused since their introduction in the 1800s, the mountains of 1080 poison used to reduce their numbers over the years, the controversial Calici virus smuggled in to kill them in the late 1990s.
  
• Rabbits have ruined many farmers and cost taxpayers a fortune. They are seen as vermin and most New Zealanders believe the only good rabbit is a dead one.
• But rabbits also have a very friendly cuddly image and the thought of causing them pain or suffering is very alien to the keen rabbit owner.
  
• Under the Animal Welfare Act 1999 they have a right to the five freedoms when alive as well as a humane death.
  
• There is a great deal of concern about pet rabbits escaping or being released back into the environment when people want to dispose of them and cannot face euthanasia.
  

Why keep rabbits?

• They make great pets for children. This is true but there are some important qualifications. What happens is the child gets a pet rabbit, and then they get sick of it. Mum then takes over feeding and cleaning, with no time for handling. The child goes back at some later stage to play with the rabbit, and finds the rabbit bites or scratches.
• Rabbits are very territorial and they don't like it interfered with.
• They must be handled regularly and kindly by the owner.
• Rabbits are bred for exhibition and there are breeders' organisations in most parts of the country.
• They can be kept for a domestic meat supply or can be run commercially for meat. They produce white meat, which is grouped with poultry and veal but they have the large advantage that they don't compete with man for grain.
• Commercial rabbit farming for meat is usually a large operation where production, processing and marketing are all integrated like broiler chickens. What they produce per kg of body weight far exceeds any other farm animal and their reproductive rate far exceeds any other farm animal.
• Rabbits can also be kept for their fibre (Angora) either as a hobby with a few animals, or with larger numbers in a commercial operation.
  
• They are been integrated with a tourism where the Angora rabbits are on display, their fibre harvested, spinning is demonstrated and end garments offered for sale.
• They can also provide pelts, usually as a byproduct from some other commercial operation such as meat. However some coloured and patterned pelts come from surplus exhibition rabbits.
  

Breeds and types

In New Zealand all breeds have been imported, but we do not have the full range seen in Europe or USA. Below are the main ones.

Meat rabbits

NZ White

• New Zealand White
• Flemish Giant
• Dutch
• Californian
• Himalayan
  

Fibre rabbits

• Angora

Exhibition rabbits

• Netherlands dwarf
• French lop
• Rex
• Chinchilla
  

Handling

• You can lift small young rabbits by holding them gently and firmly around the loin.
• Larger rabbits are carried by holding the scruff in the right hand for balance and taking the animal's weight on your left hand and forearm held under the rump. If the rabbit struggles, the left arm can hold it.
• Vicious rabbits (biting and scratching). There can be a number of reasons for this so try to find out why. It may be rough handling, starvation, too cramped conditions, teasing, etc. Regular quiet and gentle handling is a good investment, especially for pet animals.
  
• If rabbits are persistently vicious, then they should be culled.
  

Nails

• Caged rabbits will need to have their nails clipped at regular intervals.
• With Angoras they can be nail clipped when shorn.
• Use proper nail clippers and only cut about 5mm from the quick, which is easily seen against the light. If you cut into the quick the nail will bleed and cause pain.
• Use a strong light under the nail to help see the blood line and avoid cutting into the quick.

Teeth
Rabbits have teeth occlusion problems where top and bottom teeth do not meet correctly and are not worn down evenly. They grow past each other so grown long and need to be treated. Consult a veterinarian for the correct procedure.




Euthanasia

• Rabbits must be killed in a humane way to avoid committing an offence under the Animal Welfare Act 1999.
• Neck dislocation is the most common method, but it must be done correctly and needs experience. Get an experienced person to show you.
• Hold the back legs of the rabbit in one hand, and press the chin up and the head down with the other hand with a quick stretching action until the neck breaks.
• If you don't feel competent, stun the rabbit (see below) and then carry out neck dislocation.
• The rabbit may also be stunned with a blow from a heavy instrument on the back of the head, and then immediately have its throat cut to ensure it has bled to death.
• The action of stunning alone may not kill the rabbit.