Uploaded May 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 day ago
Originally presented at OE3C 2021: oe3c.com
The role of flight feathers on the ability of egg-laying hens to access elevated resources in complex housing environments
Renée Garant*, Bret Tobalske, Nienke van Staaveren, Neila Ben Sassi, , Dan Tulpan, Don Powers, & Alexandra Harlander
*Won 2nd place student research talk!
Abstract: Navigating through an environment is crucial for all living things, and for birds, this ability is largely dependent upon their wings. Wings are known for their role in flapping-flight but are also important for balancing, manoeuvring, and temperature regulation. For egg-laying chickens housed in aviaries, accessing essential resources requires coordinated wing-body movements to reach tiers of varying heights. The presence of intact flight feathers (FF) is necessary to maintain the wings' flapping-flight capabilities. Interestingly, laying hens in aviaries have greater rates of feather-pecking and are more likely to be missing wing feathers. To date, there are no studies investigating the importance of intact FFs on the ability of hens to access elevated resources. We investigated the impact of FF presence on the amount of time hens spend accessing elevated resources. To investigate this, we distributed 120-adult laying hens (60 white-feathered strain; 60 brown-feathered strain) amongst 12 floor pens furnished with two platforms 70 cm above the ground, two feeders, and two nest boxes (one of each on the ground or atop a platform), and two perches. Hens were assigned to one of three treatments: FFs intact (control), bilateral primary FFs clipped (half clip), or bilateral primary + secondary FFs clipped (full clip). We recorded the amount of time (minutes) hens spent accessing feeders and nest boxes for 48-hour intervals every two weeks over an 8-week period with the use of an RFID system. We predicted that hens receiving either clipping treatment would spend less time accessing the elevated feeder and nest-box after treatments were applied. Statistical analysis was done separately for each strain to assess the effect of clipping status on behaviour using a repeated measures model. Results showed that two weeks after receiving the full clip treatment, white-feathered hens spent 41.8% less time at the elevated feeder (p less than 0.0001) and 37.3% (p=0.0004) less time at the elevated nest box, and this decrease remained throughout the trial. A decrease in elevated feeder use was only seen in brown-feathered half clip hens due to the control and full clip groups not using this feeder before treatment application. However, elevated nest box usage decreased by 54.40% for the half clip (p less than 0.0001) and 58.49% for the full clip (p less than 0.0001) brown-feathered hens, and this decrease remained throughout the trial. These results highlight the importance of intact flight feathers for the ability of laying hens to navigate elevated space in complex housing systems.
Originally presented at OE3C 2021: oe3c.com
The role of flight feathers on the ability of egg-laying hens to access elevated resources in complex housing environments
Renée Garant*, Bret Tobalske, Nienke van Staaveren, Neila Ben Sassi, , Dan Tulpan, Don Powers, & Alexandra Harlander
*Won 2nd place student research talk!
Abstract: Navigating through an environment is crucial for all living things, and for birds, this ability is largely dependent upon their wings. Wings are known for their role in flapping-flight but are also important for balancing, manoeuvring, and temperature regulation. For egg-laying chickens housed in aviaries, accessing essential resources requires coordinated wing-body movements to reach tiers of varying heights. The presence of intact flight feathers (FF) is necessary to maintain the wings' flapping-flight capabilities. Interestingly, laying hens in aviaries have greater rates of feather-pecking and are more likely to be missing wing feathers. To date, there are no studies investigating the importance of intact FFs on the ability of hens to access elevated resources. We investigated the impact of FF presence on the amount of time hens spend accessing elevated resources. To investigate this, we distributed 120-adult laying hens (60 white-feathered strain; 60 brown-feathered strain) amongst 12 floor pens furnished with two platforms 70 cm above the ground, two feeders, and two nest boxes (one of each on the ground or atop a platform), and two perches. Hens were assigned to one of three treatments: FFs intact (control), bilateral primary FFs clipped (half clip), or bilateral primary + secondary FFs clipped (full clip). We recorded the amount of time (minutes) hens spent accessing feeders and nest boxes for 48-hour intervals every two weeks over an 8-week period with the use of an RFID system. We predicted that hens receiving either clipping treatment would spend less time accessing the elevated feeder and nest-box after treatments were applied. Statistical analysis was done separately for each strain to assess the effect of clipping status on behaviour using a repeated measures model. Results showed that two weeks after receiving the full clip treatment, white-feathered hens spent 41.8% less time at the elevated feeder (p less than 0.0001) and 37.3% (p=0.0004) less time at the elevated nest box, and this decrease remained throughout the trial. A decrease in elevated feeder use was only seen in brown-feathered half clip hens due to the control and full clip groups not using this feeder before treatment application. However, elevated nest box usage decreased by 54.40% for the half clip (p less than 0.0001) and 58.49% for the full clip (p less than 0.0001) brown-feathered hens, and this decrease remained throughout the trial. These results highlight the importance of intact flight feathers for the ability of laying hens to navigate elevated space in complex housing systems.
