Nesting behaviour – a comparison of single nest boxes and family nests

Abstract

Summary From an evolutionary point of view, the laying behaviour hardly has changed and is an important behaviour trait for layers. Nesting behaviour is of special interest with increasing consumer demand for eggs produced in cage free systems. Good nesting behaviour is crucial for the economic success of table egg production. The aim of the study was to evaluate the nesting behaviour of two layer strains in a single and a family nest. Two different nest systems equipped with electronic animal identification and data recording were used to capture behaviour traits routinely over the entire laying period. The Weihenstephan funnel nest box (FNB), a single nest box, and the high frequency family nest (HFGN) were used. Hens of similar age from the strains Lohmann Brown (LB) and Lohmann Selected Leghorn (LSL) were blended for this study and housed in pens equipped with one of the two nest systems, either FNB or HFGN, at the experimental station Thalhausen of the Technische Universität München. The hens of each flock changed the nest system after six months and stayed then for further four months in the second nest system. So each group of hens was tested in both nest systems, either first in the FNB (flock 1) or first in the HFGN (flock 2). In flock 1, the median for the trait number of nest visits per hen and day was 1.2 for the LB and 1.3 for the LSL hens in the FNB, when being housed in the FNB first. In flock 2, the median was 1.2 for both strains. The median for the number of nest visits per hen and day was 1.2 in the HFGN for the LB and 1.4 for the LSL layers regardless in which nest system being housed first. In the FNB the median for the trait overall duration of stay in nest per hen and day was 23Â min in flock 1 and 28Â min in flock 2 for the LB. In the FNB the median of duration of stay in a nest of the LSL hens was 65Â min in flock 1 and 42Â min in flock 2. LB hens stayed in the HFGN on average 27Â min in flock 1 and 30Â min in flock 2. When being housed in the FNB first, the median for duration in the nest decreased from 69Â min in flock 2 to 54Â min in flock 1 for the LSL hens in the HFGN. The results of this study show clearly differences in the nesting behaviour between white and brown layers as well as between the nest systems. Additionally the hen’s age and their familiarisation to a specific nest system have an important impact on the number of nest visits as well as the time spent in a nest.