Special Issue "Behaviour and Welfare of Laying Hens"

A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Welfare".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2022.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Claire A. Weeks
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Bristol Veterinary School, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK
Interests: welfare assessment; transport; poultry; housing systems; markets; knowledge exchange; farm animal welfare
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

 

Overall global consumption of eggs continues to rise, but at the same time, there is an increasing demand for non-cage production systems, which are perceived by consumers to offer improved laying hen welfare. The concern for hen welfare is driving voluntary or legal bans on the practice of beak-trimming in many countries. Major egg procurement companies such as global restaurant chains and retailers have pledged to go cage-free by 2025. The ethics of producing and then killing male chicks at hatching are also under scrutiny, driving new technologies such as in ovo sexing. It is increasingly recognised that rearing is a key stage, laying the foundations for subsequent behaviour, production, health, and welfare.

 

We invite original research papers that consider the behaviour and welfare of laying hens at all stages of production. Those which address the challenges of keeping hens in loose-housed (non-cage) systems are encouraged, particularly for countries which have little experience of large-scale, non-cage production.

 

Dr. Claire A. Weeks
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • laying hens
  • behaviour
  • welfare
  • pullets
  • rearing
  • keel damage
  • non-cage systems
  • injurious pecking
  • beak trimming
  • housing systems

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Investigation of the Morphology of Adrenal Glands in Hens Kept in Two Different Housing Systems—A Pilot Study
Animals 2021, 11(7), 2124; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani11072124 - 17 Jul 2021
Viewed by 811
Abstract
It is difficult to objectively assess the chronic effects of housing systems on livestock and particularly on laying hens. However, this seems to be important in the context of animal welfare. Therefore, we conducted the present study in order to compare the effect [...] Read more.
It is difficult to objectively assess the chronic effects of housing systems on livestock and particularly on laying hens. However, this seems to be important in the context of animal welfare. Therefore, we conducted the present study in order to compare the effect of two different housing conditions, single cage (SC) and floor pen (FP), on the morphology of the adrenal gland. A higher amount of interrenal cells, which secrete stress hormones, can lead to a difference in the relation of adrenal and interrenal cells, which could be interpreted as an indication of chronic stress. For this purpose, adrenal glands were extracted, prepared, stained and examined by microscopy, and total area of the cut, total area of interrenal cells and total area of adrenal cells were measured. As a result, all laying hens had a higher percentage of interrenal cells than adrenal cells (FP: interrenal cells/adrenal cells = 78.37%/21.63%; SC: 80.00%/20.00%). The median of adrenal–interrenal ratio did not differ significantly (FP = 0.2503, SC = 0.2499), while the variation of the ratio between laying hens in FP and SC showed a slight tendency of a higher ratio in adrenal glands of FP (p < 0.0870). Body weight and adrenal–interrenal ratio were significantly negatively correlated in laying hens in FP (rS = −0.943, p < 0.0048) but not in SC (rS = −0.162, p = 0.7283). There was no significant correlation between body weight and total cell area for interrenal cells or adrenal cells. Body weight was significantly lower for laying hens kept in SC than for laying hens kept in FP (p < 0.0001). Due to the present results, it can be concluded that keeping laying hens in single cages can have a negative effect on body weight. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Behaviour and Welfare of Laying Hens)
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