Abstract
The northern fowl mite, Ornithonyssus sylviarum, is one of the most common and damaging ectoparasites of poultry. As an obligate blood feeding mite, the northern fowl mite can cause anaemia, slower growth, and decreased egg production of parasitized birds. However, the impact of mites or other ectoparasites on hen behaviour or welfare is not well studied. Here, we use activity sensors (three-axis accelerometers) affixed to individual birds to continuously record hen movement before, during, and after infestation with mites. Movements recorded by sensors were identified to specific bird behaviours through a previously trained algorithm, with frequency of these behaviours recorded for individual birds. Hen welfare was also determined before, during, and after mite infestation of hens using animal-based welfare metrics. Northern fowl mites significantly increased hen preening behaviour and resulted in increased skin lesions of infested birds.
Highlights
On-animal sensors can increase the number of individual animals tracked, while increasing the tracking period and the sensitivity for detection of behaviours
Ectoparasite effects on the health and welfare of poultry in cage-free systems have not been evaluated but are important to understand as poultry husbandry practices continue to shift toward cage-free housing, which is expected to increase the diversity of ectoparasites associated with these birds[21]
We use on-animal sensors coupled with visual assessment of animal health to evaluate chicken behaviours and welfare metrics in the absence of mites, at low and high mite scores, following mite control, and after a secondary mite infestation
Summary
The use of new technologies, such as on-animal activity sensors, can increase behavioural observations in time and space without the risk of human bias or human interference with animal behaviours (reviewed in[20]). The increased data that can be obtained using on-animal sensors provides greater statistical power than can typically be achieved in direct observation studies. Ectoparasite effects on the health and welfare of poultry in cage-free systems have not been evaluated but are important to understand as poultry husbandry practices continue to shift toward cage-free housing, which is expected to increase the diversity of ectoparasites associated with these birds[21]. We use on-animal sensors coupled with visual assessment of animal health to evaluate chicken behaviours and welfare metrics in the absence of mites, at low and high mite scores, following mite control, and after a secondary mite infestation
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