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27 Results Found

  • Article
  • Open Access
48 Citations
13,372 Views
11 Pages

14 March 2018

This study designed a radio-frequency identification (RFID)-based Internet of Things (IoT) platform to create the core of a smart nest box. At the sensing level, we have deployed RFID-based sensors and egg detection sensors. A low-frequency RFID read...

  • Article
  • Open Access
21 Citations
5,472 Views
19 Pages

Development of a Machine Vision Method for the Monitoring of Laying Hens and Detection of Multiple Nest Occupations

  • Mauro Zaninelli,
  • Veronica Redaelli,
  • Fabio Luzi,
  • Malcolm Mitchell,
  • Valentino Bontempo,
  • Donata Cattaneo,
  • Vittorio Dell’Orto and
  • Giovanni Savoini

5 January 2018

Free range systems can improve the welfare of laying hens. However, the access to environmental resources can be partially limited by social interactions, feeding of hens, and productivity, can be not stable and damaging behaviors, or negative events...

  • Article
  • Open Access
70 Citations
10,725 Views
13 Pages

28 January 2020

Feather pecking is a key welfare challenge in laying hen husbandry. Feeding of live Hermetia illucens larvae could provide a possible solution to reduce feather pecking in hens. This research investigates effects of dispensing live H. illucens larvae...

  • Communication
  • Open Access
14 Citations
6,125 Views
14 Pages

Preliminary Evaluation of a Nest Usage Sensor to Detect Double Nest Occupations of Laying Hens

  • Mauro Zaninelli,
  • Annamaria Costa,
  • Francesco Maria Tangorra,
  • Luciana Rossi,
  • Alessandro Agazzi and
  • Giovanni Savoini

26 January 2015

Conventional cage systems will be replaced by housing systems that allow hens to move freely. These systems may improve hens’ welfare, but they lead to some disadvantages: disease, bone fractures, cannibalism, piling and lower egg production. New sel...

  • Article
  • Open Access
505 Views
17 Pages

Limestone Granulometry and Vitamin D Supplementation in Brown Laying Hens: Implications for Performance, Egg Quality, Bone Health, Thermoregulation, and Behavior in a Hot Environment

  • Carla Lourena Cardoso Macedo Lourenço,
  • Débora Fonteles Lima,
  • Angefferson Bento Evangelista,
  • Alfredo Pinto Rodrigues,
  • João Marcelo Lopes de Abreu,
  • Ednardo Rodrigues Freitas,
  • Carla Nágila Cordeiro,
  • Cláudia Goulart de Abreu,
  • Robson Mateus Freitas Silveira and
  • Silvana Cavalcante Bastos Leite

5 November 2025

This study evaluated the effects of limestone particle size and 25-hydroxycholecalciferol supplementation on performance, egg quality, digestive organ biometrics, bone characteristics, thermoregulatory responses, and behavior of brown laying hens rea...

  • Article
  • Open Access
961 Views
14 Pages

20 June 2025

The amount of space provided to laying hens has been an animal welfare topic of concern from consumers, special interest groups, and lawmakers. The freedom to perform normal behaviors is one component of animal welfare, and, therefore, the objective...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
2,334 Views
14 Pages

Illuminating Solutions for Reducing Mislaid Eggs of Cage-Free Layers

  • Ramesh Bahadur Bist,
  • Xiao Yang,
  • Sachin Subedi and
  • Lilong Chai

10 November 2023

Social dynamics and lighting conditions influence floor egg-laying behavior (FELB) in hens. Hens prefer to lay eggs in darker areas, leading to mislaid eggs in cage-free systems. Consistent lighting is crucial to prevent mislaid eggs, but equipment o...

  • Article
  • Open Access
17 Citations
3,037 Views
15 Pages

Implementation of Inertia Sensor and Machine Learning Technologies for Analyzing the Behavior of Individual Laying Hens

  • Sayed M. Derakhshani,
  • Matthias Overduin,
  • Thea G. C. M. van Niekerk and
  • Peter W. G. Groot Koerkamp

22 February 2022

Welfare-oriented regulations cause farmers worldwide to shift towards more welfare-friendly, e.g., loose housing systems such as aviaries with litter. In contrast to the traditional cage housing systems, good technical results can only be obtained if...

  • Review
  • Open Access
129 Citations
9,198 Views
11 Pages

Air Quality in Alternative Housing Systems may have an Impact on Laying Hen Welfare. Part II—Ammonia

  • Bruce David,
  • Cecilie Mejdell,
  • Virginie Michel,
  • Vonne Lund and
  • Randi Oppermann Moe

3 September 2015

The EU ban on conventional barren cages for laying hens from 2012 has improved many aspects of laying hen welfare. The new housing systems allow for the expression of highly-motivated behaviors. However, the systems available for intensive large-scal...

  • Review
  • Open Access
47 Citations
10,263 Views
21 Pages

Review of Sensor Technologies in Animal Breeding: Phenotyping Behaviors of Laying Hens to Select Against Feather Pecking

  • Esther D. Ellen,
  • Malou van der Sluis,
  • Janice Siegford,
  • Oleksiy Guzhva,
  • Michael J. Toscano,
  • Jörn Bennewitz,
  • Lisette E. van der Zande,
  • Jerine A. J. van der Eijk,
  • Elske N. de Haas and
  • T. Bas Rodenburg
  • + 5 authors

22 March 2019

Damaging behaviors, like feather pecking (FP), have large economic and welfare consequences in the commercial laying hen industry. Selective breeding can be used to obtain animals that are less likely to perform damaging behavior on their pen-mates....

  • Article
  • Open Access
31 Citations
5,926 Views
16 Pages

Effects of Housing System on Anxiety, Chronic Stress, Fear, and Immune Function in Bovan Brown Laying Hens

  • Andrew M. Campbell,
  • Alexa M. Johnson,
  • Michael E. Persia and
  • Leonie Jacobs

14 July 2022

The scientific community needs objective measures to appropriately assess animal welfare. The study objective was to assess the impact of housing system on novel physiological and behavioral measurements of animal welfare for laying hens, including s...

  • Article
  • Open Access
13 Citations
5,028 Views
14 Pages

The Dual-Purpose Hen as a Chance: Avoiding Injurious Pecking in Modern Laying Hen Husbandry

  • Mona Franziska Giersberg,
  • Birgit Spindler,
  • Bas Rodenburg and
  • Nicole Kemper

19 December 2019

Dual-purpose strains, with hens housed for egg laying and roosters kept for meat production are one alternative to the killing of male day-old chickens. However, dual-purpose hens seem to have additional advantages compared to conventional layers, fo...

  • Review
  • Open Access
4 Citations
4,324 Views
20 Pages

Understanding the Causes of Keel Bone Damage and Its Effects on the Welfare of Laying Hens

  • Xin Li,
  • Xia Cai,
  • Xiaoliang Wang,
  • Lihui Zhu,
  • Huaxiang Yan,
  • Junfeng Yao and
  • Changsuo Yang

18 December 2024

Keel bone damage (KBD) is a prominent concern within the realm of the egg-laying industry, exerting substantial impacts on the welfare and productivity of laying hens. This comprehensive review undertakes a detailed exploration of the diverse factors...

  • Article
  • Open Access
6 Citations
2,814 Views
18 Pages

Risk Factors for the Occurrence of Feather Pecking in Non-Beak-Trimmed Pullets and Laying Hens on Commercial Farms

  • Angela Schwarzer,
  • Elke Rauch,
  • Shana Bergmann,
  • Anna Kirchner,
  • Alice Lenz,
  • Adriane Hammes,
  • Michael Erhard,
  • Sven Reese and
  • Helen Louton

27 September 2022

Severe feather pecking (SFP) is a behavioral disorder, for which there are multifactorial reasons. Various aspects of pullet and laying-hen husbandry—including housing conditions, management, feeding, and genetics—must be considered, to p...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
2,284 Views
15 Pages

Influence of an Automatic Enrichment Device on Laying Hen Behavior and Plumage Condition

  • Anna Riedel,
  • Meryem Canci,
  • Birgit Spindler and
  • Nicole Kemper

8 March 2023

Feather pecking and cannibalism are prominent problems in modern laying hen husbandry. Among the various approaches to address this issue, environmental enrichment plays a crucial role. In this on-farm study, four winter gardens of an organic farm he...

  • Article
  • Open Access
68 Citations
8,078 Views
12 Pages

A Deep Learning Model for Detecting Cage-Free Hens on the Litter Floor

  • Xiao Yang,
  • Lilong Chai,
  • Ramesh Bahadur Bist,
  • Sachin Subedi and
  • Zihao Wu

5 August 2022

Real-time and automatic detection of chickens (e.g., laying hens and broilers) is the cornerstone of precision poultry farming based on image recognition. However, such identification becomes more challenging under cage-free conditions comparing to c...

  • Article
  • Open Access
1 Citations
1,749 Views
19 Pages

Effect of Interrupting the Daily Scotophase Period on Laying Hen Performance, Bone Health, Behavior, and Welfare; Part I: Bone Health

  • Alexis J. Clark,
  • Cerano Harrison,
  • Ari J. Bragg,
  • Gabrielle M. House,
  • Aaron B. Stephan,
  • Mireille Arguelles-Ramos and
  • Ahmed Ali

14 October 2024

Laying hens usually have 16 h of light and 8 h of darkness during egg laying, with eggshell formation primarily occurring during darkness when dietary calcium is lacking, leading to bone calcium resorption and osteoporosis. This study examined how in...

  • Article
  • Open Access
54 Citations
5,549 Views
19 Pages

A Novel YOLOv6 Object Detector for Monitoring Piling Behavior of Cage-Free Laying Hens

  • Ramesh Bahadur Bist,
  • Sachin Subedi,
  • Xiao Yang and
  • Lilong Chai

Piling behavior (PB) is a common issue that causes negative impacts on the health, welfare, and productivity of the flock in poultry houses (e.g., cage-free layer, breeder, and broiler). Birds pile on top of each other, and the weight of the birds ca...

  • Article
  • Open Access
5 Citations
1,859 Views
22 Pages

Advanced Deep Learning Methods for Multiple Behavior Classification of Cage-Free Laying Hens

  • Sachin Subedi,
  • Ramesh Bahadur Bist,
  • Xiao Yang,
  • Guoming Li and
  • Lilong Chai

The welfare of hens in cage-free systems is closely linked to their behaviors, such as feeding, drinking, pecking, perching, bathing, preening, and foraging. To monitor these behaviors, we developed and evaluated deep learning models based on YOLO (Y...

  • Review
  • Open Access
12 Citations
6,738 Views
14 Pages

Effects of Key Farm Management Practices on Pullets Welfare—A Review

  • Xiaohui Du,
  • Pingwu Qin,
  • Yanting Liu,
  • Felix Kwame Amevor,
  • Gang Shu,
  • Diyan Li and
  • Xiaoling Zhao

14 March 2022

Studies on animal behavior and welfare have reported that improving the management practices of pullets can enhance their growth, as well as their physical and mental condition, thus benefiting the productivity of laying hens. There is growing confid...

  • Article
  • Open Access
34 Citations
10,431 Views
20 Pages

19 November 2020

Free-range chicken farming allows egg-laying hens to move freely through their environment and perform their natural behavior, including laying her eggs. However, it takes time to gather these eggs manually, giving rise to high labor costs. This stud...

  • Article
  • Open Access
8 Citations
3,860 Views
9 Pages

24 December 2021

The domestic fowl has a different social behavior compared to their ancestor, the red junglefowl. To examine whether selection for tameness has affected their intra-specific social behavior, 32 red junglefowl from two selection lines, one selected fo...

  • Article
  • Open Access
3 Citations
2,795 Views
10 Pages

Examination of the Usage of a New Beak-Abrasive Material in Different Laying Hen Genotypes (Preliminary Results)

  • Tamás Péter Farkas,
  • Attila Orbán,
  • Sándor Szász,
  • András Rapai,
  • Erik Garamvölgyi and
  • Zoltán Sütő

29 September 2021

The aim of the experiment was to investigate the use and effect of a new beak-abrasive material not yet examined on mortality of non-beak trimmed laying hens of different genotypes housed in an alternative pen. The study was performed on 636 females...

  • Article
  • Open Access
2 Citations
1,381 Views
18 Pages

30 April 2025

Feather pecking (FP) is a significant welfare and economic problem in laying hen husbandry. While there is growing evidence that the glutamatergic system plays a crucial role in regulating FP behavior, the biological mechanisms remain unclear, largel...

  • Article
  • Open Access
9 Citations
3,017 Views
14 Pages

26 September 2023

Environmental enrichment can improve animal welfare. As a method of environmental enrichment, the effect of different auditory stimulations on the behavior response and welfare of laying hen chicks has yet to be investigated. Therefore, this study wa...

  • Review
  • Open Access
15 Citations
5,778 Views
27 Pages

8 October 2023

Farm animal welfare research conducted in China is not commonly accessed or known outside of China, which may lead to the assumption that farm animal welfare receives relatively little attention in China. Therefore, a bibliometric analysis was conduc...

  • Article
  • Open Access
10 Citations
2,955 Views
13 Pages

25 May 2023

The effects of HS on the welfare of poultry have been reported to have a transgenerational effect on phenotype plasticity. The goal of our experiment was to determine whether parental exposure to HS would impair the performance, HPA axis response, or...