Feather Pecking in Laying Hens and Its Effects on Welfare

Dear Colleagues,

The term feather pecking describes the pecking at and pulling out of feathers from conspecifics. It can lead to severe feather damage and the triggering of cannibalistic behaviour. This process is painful, and outbreaks of severe feather pecking can lead to increased fearfulness and stress sensitivity in the affected flock. Feather pecking and cannibalism are seen in conventional cage housing, furnished cages and non-cage systems. However, due to the large flock size in non-cage systems, feather pecking can be more difficult to control in this environment. The main approach to control damage is to trim the tip of the upper beak of birds in affected flocks. However, beak trimming itself is a painful procedure, and it is not a real solution for the problem. With more and more countries and continents transitioning from conventional cages to alternative systems, sustainable solutions to control feather pecking and cannibalism are needed.

We invite researchers working on the topic of feather pecking and cannibalism to submit their papers to this Special Issue. We are interested in papers that focus on the underlying mechanisms of feather pecking, but also those with applied perspective or a focus on comparing levels of feather pecking and feather damage in commercial flocks of laying hens. Also, papers that link the topic of feather pecking to other relevant disciplines, such as genetics, nutrition, physiology or microbiology are invited. Further, we aim to include contributions from different countries and continents to provide a global perspective on feather pecking and cannibalism in laying hens.

Prof. Bas Rodenburg
Assoc. Prof. Alexandra Harlander
Guest Editors

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