Effects of hatching system on the welfare of broiler chickens in early and later life

Mona F. Giersberg; Roos Molenaar; Ingrid C. de Jong; Carol Souza da Silva; Henry van den Brand; Bas Kemp; T. Bas Rodenburg

doi:10.1016/j.psj.2020.12.043

Effects of hatching system on the welfare of broiler chickens in early and later life

Mona F. Giersberg^*, Roos Molenaar, Ingrid C. de Jong, Carol Souza da Silva, Henry van den Brand, Bas Kemp, T. Bas Rodenburg

^*Corresponding author for this work

AISS Animal Welfare

Wageningen University & Research

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Broiler chicks usually hatch in the hatchery without access to feed and water until placement at the farm. This can affect their health and welfare negatively. Therefore, alternative strategies have been developed, for instance providing chicks with early nutrition in the hatchery or hatching eggs directly on-farm. However, information on the physical and mental welfare of chicks hatched in these systems compared to conventionally hatched chicks is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of alternative hatching systems on the welfare of broiler chickens in early and later life. A system comparison was performed with chickens that hatched conventionally in a hatchery (HH), in a system which provided light, feed, and water in a hatcher (hatchery-fed, HF), or on-farm (on-farm hatched, OH, where feed and water were available and transport of day-old chicks from the hatchery to the farm was not necessary). Chickens were reared in 3 batches, in 12 floor pens per batch (approximately 1,155 animals per pen), with a total of 12 replicates per treatment. Animal-based welfare indicators were assessed following standard protocols: plumage cleanliness, footpad dermatitis (FPD), hock burn, skin lesions (all at day 21 and 35 of age), and gait score (day 35). Furthermore, a set of behavioral tests was carried out: novel environment (day 1 and 21), tonic immobility, novel object, and avoidance distance test (day 4 and 35). Plumage cleanliness, hock burn, and skin lesions were affected by age but not by hatching system, with older broilers scoring worse than younger ones (P < 0.05). An effect of hatching system was only found for FPD, with the highest prevalence in HH chickens, followed by HF and OH chickens (P < 0.05). All responses measured in the behavioral tests were affected by age but not by hatching system. In later life, chickens were significantly less fearful than during the first days of life. The results indicate that conventionally hatched chickens scored significantly worse for FPD, whereas, in general, hatching system seemed to have minor effects on other broiler welfare indicators.

Original language	English
Article number	100946
Pages (from-to)	1-10
Number of pages	10
Journal	Poultry Science
Volume	100
Issue number	3
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psj.2020.12.043
Publication status	Published - 1 Mar 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding

This experiment was part of the EU-China HealthyLivestock project. The authors wish to acknowledge that HealthyLivestock is funded by the European Union H2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement number 773436. The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views of only the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Kris de Baere, Sofie Cardinaels, Iris van Drosselaer, and the caretakers (Experimental Poultry Centre, Geel, Belgium) are acknowledged for care and management of the birds. The authors would like to thank Henk Gunnink and Theo van Hattum (Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands) for their help with the data collection. This experiment was part of the EU-China HealthyLivestock project. The authors wish to acknowledge that HealthyLivestock is funded by the European Union H2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement number 773436 . The European Commission's support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views of only the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Kris de Baere, Sofie Cardinaels, Iris van Drosselaer, and the caretakers (Experimental Poultry Centre, Geel, Belgium) are acknowledged for care and management of the birds. The authors would like to thank Henk Gunnink and Theo van Hattum (Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen, The Netherlands) for their help with the data collection.

Keywords

behavior
broiler
early feeding
on-farm hatching
welfare

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1-s2.0-S0032579120309974-mainFinal published version, 712 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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title = "Effects of hatching system on the welfare of broiler chickens in early and later life",

abstract = "Broiler chicks usually hatch in the hatchery without access to feed and water until placement at the farm. This can affect their health and welfare negatively. Therefore, alternative strategies have been developed, for instance providing chicks with early nutrition in the hatchery or hatching eggs directly on-farm. However, information on the physical and mental welfare of chicks hatched in these systems compared to conventionally hatched chicks is limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of alternative hatching systems on the welfare of broiler chickens in early and later life. A system comparison was performed with chickens that hatched conventionally in a hatchery (HH), in a system which provided light, feed, and water in a hatcher (hatchery-fed, HF), or on-farm (on-farm hatched, OH, where feed and water were available and transport of day-old chicks from the hatchery to the farm was not necessary). Chickens were reared in 3 batches, in 12 floor pens per batch (approximately 1,155 animals per pen), with a total of 12 replicates per treatment. Animal-based welfare indicators were assessed following standard protocols: plumage cleanliness, footpad dermatitis (FPD), hock burn, skin lesions (all at day 21 and 35 of age), and gait score (day 35). Furthermore, a set of behavioral tests was carried out: novel environment (day 1 and 21), tonic immobility, novel object, and avoidance distance test (day 4 and 35). Plumage cleanliness, hock burn, and skin lesions were affected by age but not by hatching system, with older broilers scoring worse than younger ones (P < 0.05). An effect of hatching system was only found for FPD, with the highest prevalence in HH chickens, followed by HF and OH chickens (P < 0.05). All responses measured in the behavioral tests were affected by age but not by hatching system. In later life, chickens were significantly less fearful than during the first days of life. The results indicate that conventionally hatched chickens scored significantly worse for FPD, whereas, in general, hatching system seemed to have minor effects on other broiler welfare indicators.",

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AU - van den Brand, Henry

AU - Kemp, Bas

AU - Rodenburg, T. Bas

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Effects of hatching system on the welfare of broiler chickens in early and later life

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

Keywords

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