Abstract
Simple SummaryUntil 2012, laying hens in the EU were often housed in conventional cages that offered limited space and few opportunities to perform highly motivated behaviors. Conventional cages are now banned in the EU in order to improve animal welfare. In this study, egg farmers were surveyed (winter 2013–2014) to assess whether they perceived any changes in animal welfare since changing housing systems, what role hen welfare played in choosing a new housing system, and which aspects of hen welfare they find most important. The data show that the answers differ depending on which housing system the farmers currently use and whether they had used conventional cages in the past.As of 2012, the EU has banned the use of conventional cages (CC) for laying hens, causing a shift in housing systems. This study’s aim was to gain insight into farmers’ opinions on hen health and welfare in their current housing systems. A survey was sent to 218 Belgian egg farmers, of which 127 (58.3%) responded, with 84 still active as egg farmer. Hen welfare tended to be less important in choosing the housing system for farmers with cage than with non-cage systems. Respondents currently using cage systems were more satisfied with hen health than respondents with non-cage systems. Reported mortality increased with farm size and was higher in furnished cages than in floor housing. Feather pecking, cannibalism, smothering and mortality were perceived to be higher in current housing systems than in CC, but only by respondents who shifted to non-cage systems from previously having had CC. Health- and production-related parameters were scored to be more important for hen welfare as compared to behavior-related parameters. Those without CC in the past rated factors relating to natural behavior to be more important for welfare than those with CC. This difference in opinion based on farmer backgrounds should be taken into account in future research.
Highlights
As of 2012, the EU ban on conventional cages (CC) was implemented to improve hen welfare.This ban had major effects on egg farmers because CC had been the most prevalent housing system [1].Most egg farmers had to choose an alternative housing system for their hens.Animals 2015, 6, 1; doi:10.3390/ani6010001 www.mdpi.com/journal/animalsThe most common alternative housing systems in the EU are furnished cages (FC), colony cages (CO), aviaries (AV), and floor housing (FH)
Level, which had the can following incidences: FC:et13, 14, FH: 23, FH + FR: 9, AV: 29, and AV + FR: 8. This adds up to 96 responses, meaning some farmers operated more than one housing system on their farm
Hen health and welfare were reasonably important for farmers when choosing an alternative housing system after the ban on CC
Summary
As of 2012, the EU ban on conventional cages (CC) was implemented to improve hen welfare.This ban had major effects on egg farmers because CC had been the most prevalent housing system [1].Most egg farmers had to choose an alternative housing system for their hens.Animals 2015, 6, 1; doi:10.3390/ani6010001 www.mdpi.com/journal/animalsThe most common alternative housing systems in the EU are furnished cages (FC), colony cages (CO), aviaries (AV), and floor housing (FH). As of 2012, the EU ban on conventional cages (CC) was implemented to improve hen welfare. This ban had major effects on egg farmers because CC had been the most prevalent housing system [1]. Most egg farmers had to choose an alternative housing system for their hens. FC have several advantages over the traditional CC. They are larger (750 cm vs 550 cm per hen, usually housing 10–50 hens), and have extra facilities such as a nest box, at least 15 cm of perch per hen, and litter material [2]
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