Abstract
Simple SummaryAnimal welfare has been of increasing interest to consumers and producers of animal products in Europe. Issues during transport affect both the wellbeing and the productivity of livestock. This study was conducted to analyze two practice-oriented transport variants of organically mixed-held white and brown pullets. No significant difference could be found between the transport variants. Instead, we discovered clear differences between the two genetic pullet lines.The welfare of two genetic lines of organic layer hen pullets—H&N Super Nick (HNS) and H&N Brown Nick (HNB)—was compared during two commercial transport variants of 15 flocks of mixed-reared birds. Birds were either transported overnight (with a break in travel), or were transported direct to the layer farm (without a break in travel). Samples of feces were collected non-invasively from 25 birds of each genetic line per flock for each transport variant before transportation to evaluate baseline values of glucocorticoid metabolites, and at 0 h, 3 h, 6 h, 10 h, 24 h, 34 h, 48 h, 58 h, and 72 h after the end of transportation, to measure transportation and translocation stress. We assessed the fear toward humans with the touch test before transportation, and we checked the birds’ body condition by scoring the plumage condition and the occurrence of injuries. Body weight before and weight loss after transportation were determined, and ambient temperature was measured before, during, and after transportation. Stress investigations showed no significant differences between the transport variants (effect: −0.208; 95% confidence interval (CI): (−0.567; 0.163)). Instead, we discovered differences between the pullet lines (effect: −0.286; 95% CI: (−0.334; 0.238)). Weight loss was different between the transport variants (2.1 percentage points; 95% CI: (−2.6; −1.5)) and between the genetic lines, as HNB lost significantly less weight than HNS (0.5 percentage points; 95% CI: (0.3; 0.7)).
Highlights
The World Organization for Animal Health provides a reference document [1] of international standards for animal health and zoonosis; it grants animals kept under human care the internationally recognized “five freedoms” of welfare described as follows: freedom from hunger, thirst and Animals 2018, 8, 183; doi:10.3390/ani8100183 www.mdpi.com/journal/animalsAnimals 2018, 8, 183 malnutrition; freedom from fear and distress; freedom from physical and thermal discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; freedom to express normal behavior patterns.The Swiss consumer assumes that organic livestock farming applies more species-appropriate animal husbandry corresponding to the animals’ natural living conditions, and provides better animal welfare than conventional farming practices [2]
The present study examined the effects of transportation and translocation on the stress hormone levels of 18-week-old organically reared pullets of two mixed-held layer lines—H&N Super Nick and H&N Brown Nick—in transit from the rearing farm to the farm of laying hens in Switzerland
H&N Brown Nick (HNB) hens of our study showed a rapid decrease in corticosterone metabolites (CM) concentration during the first 6 h after transportation, but just a few returned to baseline values at the end of the study, which might be due to the novel environment
Summary
The World Organization for Animal Health provides a reference document [1] of international standards for animal health and zoonosis; it grants animals kept under human care the internationally recognized “five freedoms” of welfare described as follows: freedom from hunger, thirst and Animals 2018, 8, 183; doi:10.3390/ani8100183 www.mdpi.com/journal/animals. Whereas some of the German organic labels further limit the maximum transport durations to less than 4 h or 2 h [6,7,8], none provide specific requirements for poultry, pullets, or laying hens. All regulations, including EC No 1/2005, disregard loading and unloading time (Table 1). Various stressors such as climate, environment, nutrition, physical, and social and physiological conditions are likely to influence welfare and performance [12]. The present study examined the effects of transportation and translocation on the stress hormone levels of 18-week-old organically reared pullets of two mixed-held layer lines—H&N Super Nick and H&N Brown Nick—in transit from the rearing farm to the farm of laying hens (novel environment) in Switzerland. No specification for pullets cm2 /kg for
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
