Influences of Maternal Care on Chicken Welfare

Animals

Joanne Edgar¹  Suzanne Held¹  Charlotte Jones¹  Camille Troisi³  T. Bas Rodenburg² 

[1] School of Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford BS40 5DU, UK;;School of Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford House, Langford BS40 5DU, UKSchool of Biology, University of St Andrews, Queens Terrace, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9TS, UK;

关键词: animal welfare;    behaviour;    chicken;    domestic;    hen;    imprinting;    laying;    maternal;    simulation;    social learning;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ani6010002

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

For a domestic chick, the mother hen is an important role model; chicks learn a great deal from their mother about what to peck, when to rest and how to behave when there is a threat. However, in large farms, natural brooding is not commercially viable and so chicks are hatched in large incubators and reared artificially. Chicks reared without a mother in this way are more fearful and more likely to develop behavioural problems, such as feather pecking. We discuss the important features of maternal care in chickens, the behavioural consequences of deprivation, and the welfare implications on commercial farms. We finish by suggesting ways to simulate natural maternal care to improve commercial chick rearing practice.

In domestic chickens, the provision of maternal care strongly influences the behavioural development of chicks. Mother hens play an important role in directing their chicks’ behaviour and are able to buffer their chicks’ response to stressors. Chicks imprint upon their mother, who is key in directing the chicks’ behaviour and in allowing them to develop food preferences. Chicks reared by a mother hen are less fearful and show higher levels of behavioural synchronisation than chicks reared artificially. In a commercial setting, more fearful chicks with unsynchronised behaviour are more likely to develop behavioural problems, such as feather pecking. As well as being an inherent welfare problem, fear can also lead to panic responses, smothering, and fractured bones. Despite the beneficial effects of brooding, it is not commercially viable to allow natural brooding on farms and so chicks are hatched in large incubators and reared artificially, without a mother hen. In this review we cover the literature demonstrating the important features of maternal care in domestic chickens, the behavioural consequences of deprivation and the welfare implications on commercial farms. We finish by suggesting ways to use research in natural maternal care to improve commercial chick rearing practice.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2016 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.