Abstract
The European Union in 2012 banned conventional battery cages for the welfare reasons. However, transition to new housing systems uncovered some new problems, such as keel bone damage (KBD), which also could endanger welfare of laying hens. Although KBD is a research topic which attracts a growing attention in the EU, in Serbia it is still rather unknown phenomenon, even among the scientific and professional community. This research is the first attempt to determine the prevalence of KBD in laying hens in housing systems currently existing in Serbia. The results of conducted monitoring show presence of KBD on all observed farms, except the organic one. The occurrence of KBD was at an acceptable level (from the standpoint of hen welfare) in the free-range system, enriched cages without equipment and conventional battery cages (4%, 3% and 1%, respectively), while in the fully equipped enriched cages it was high (39%). One could assume that this high prevalence of KBD in this system is a consequence of a long roosting on a metal perches.
Highlights
New modified housing systems for laying hens have been introduced in the EU countries since 2012, when Directive 1999/74/EC came to force
All types of the housing systems currently existing in Serbia were included into this research: fully equipped enriched cages, enriched cages without the equipment, conventional battery cages, organic production and backyard production
Many authors Rodenburg et al (2008), Sandilands et al (2009), Kappeli et al (2011), and Wilkins et al (2011) reported the highest prevalence of keel bone damage (KBD) in systems equipped with multilevel perches, there is not a single farm with aviary system in Serbia, and these systems could not be included
Summary
New modified housing systems for laying hens have been introduced in the EU countries since 2012, when Directive 1999/74/EC came to force. Numerous studies, done mostly in the EU countries, have documented fractures and deformation of the keel bone in laying hens, which range between 5% and 97%, depending on the housing system and hen age (Rodenburg et al, 2008; Wilkins et al, 2011; Petrik et al, 2015; Riber and Hinrichsen, 2016; Regmi et al, 2016). No similar research was conducted in our country. This phenomenon is still rather unknown, even among scientific and professional community and there is no sufficient information about KBD in Serbia but in all countries from the region, where the Directive 1999/74/EC is still not effective. The aim of this research was to determine, for the first time, the prevalence of the KBD in laying hens in different housing systems in Serbia and to announce the findings to the scientific and professional community
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