Reducing feather pecking in non-cage-laying flocks

Beak trimming, lighting control are common methods to reduce injurious pecking, but there are many other ways to reduce this behavior in non-cage flocks

Feather pecking occurs in the majority of free range flocks to various degrees. It is not only painful for the birds, but is associated with increased mortality. Where injurious pecking occurs, there is a higher risk of cannibalism, and the stress it causes can increase disease susceptibility and disease spread. Productivity can fall and feed consumption can rise, as birds with poor plumage use more energy to keep warm.

The U.K.’s University of Bristol has produced a guide to reducing the risk of injurious pecking occurring in non-cage-laying hens. The guide identifies various risk factors associated with injurious pecking and outlines strategies to prevent it. The Featherwel Improving Feather Cover guide covers strategies for lay and strategies for rear, and since publication has become a requirement for U.K. egg producers working to the British Lion Code of Practice. The new Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) Freedom Foods Standards also now require many of the recommendations made in the guide.

Here we outline some of the strategies identified for reducing feather pecking during lay.

Transition to lay

Change-associated stress can put pullets on the path to feather pecking, and the transition should be managed to minimize change. Making rearing houses similar to laying houses makes adjustment easier, and areas for consideration include:

• Drinker and feeder type and height
• Light and dark periods
• Type of light bulbs
• Time feeders are run
• Perch type/system

One study has found that rearing birds on the laying farm reduces the risk of feather pecking. If birds are transported, the period that they are kept without food and water should be minimized. Mixing birds from different rearing groups should be avoided.

Birds should be regularly weighed from arrival. If flocks are uneven, effort should be made to even them out, for example by delaying lay whilst feeding up. Studies have found that onset of lay before 19 weeks increases the feather-pecking risk, and before 20 weeks increases the risk of vent pecking.

Two studies have suggested that purchasing birds at a younger age, and allowing them range access at an earlier age increases range use and reduces feather pecking. It may also ease the transition to the laying house. 

Placement period

The most important strategy to encourage foraging behavior and reduce feather pecking, particularly the severe forms, is to allow access to good quality, friable litter from Day 1 and throughout the laying period. Pullets will have had access to litter at rear and may be highly frustrated by its loss. In addition, by holding the pullets up on the slats, the effective stocking density is increased. Both these factors can lead to injurious pecking.

Allowing early range access is associated with greater range use later in the laying cycle. By promoting range use, house stocking density is reduced, dietary fiber is increased, and foraging promoted – all of which reduce the risk of injurious pecking.

Accessing, encouraging range use

There is good evidence that flocks which range well have better feather cover. To attract birds onto the range, they must be able to:

• See the range
• Access it easily through wide popholes
• Easily reach the range
• Find a variety of features offering protection, foraging, dust bathing and perching.

Shelters near the layer house can give hens confidence to explore by offering protection from weather and wild birds – they also help keep dust baths dry, and increasing the amount and variety of the range’s vegetation or natural cover promotes use.

Placing nipple drinkers outside can save birds going back indoors to drink.

Range management

The area around the popholes must be kept clean and well-drained. Slats or stones can be placed to clean the feet, helping to keep the litter clean and dry. Popholes that open upwards to form a “roof” will reduce driving rain getting onto the litter, while bales can offer wind protection.

Gutters should be well-maintained to avoid puddles and so wet litter. The presence of dirty water can lead to health issues.

Maintaining litter quality

Feather pecking is thought to be redirected foraging or ground-pecking behavior, and good litter quality is vital for foraging behavior and dust bathing. Preventing access, or having poor litter results in frustration and the birds then need to find something else to forage in.

Maintaining good, deep, friable litter requires good housing design and maintenance. Without these, more effort is needed to achieve litter quality. The litter around the popholes can be particularly difficult to keep dry, and special attention and effort is required to keep in good condition.

Keeping the external area and well drained is key to preventing the letter inside the house dry.

Foraging and dust bathing

Hens need to forage, even when given a complete feed. It is important to give them plenty to peck at to keep their attention away from pecking each other. Often, hens both dust bathe and forage in the litter or outdoor dusty areas. Foraging can supplement the diet, and eating some fiber is associated with improved feather cover.

There are many ways to keep the hens occupied in the house, and a variety of objects have been used. Hens find alfalfa blocks, straw and hay attractive for foraging. These can be placed in nets if they are exhausted too quickly.

Feeding

The approach taken in feeding hens can have profound effects on the likelihood of feather pecking occurring. Feeding mashed feed, rather than pellets, increases the time spent eating, and decreases injurious pecking. If feeders are used as perches, they should not present the vents of perching birds at hen head height.

The number of chain feeder runs, particularly during the middle of the day when birds should be ranging, should be reduced, as the sound of the chain feeder can bring them in off the range. However, birds should not be left hungry, and this can be addressed by putting a source of fiber on the litter and/or range, or by increasing the volume of food in each feed.

Two studies have suggested that more than three diet changes during lay, or diet changes from a palatable to an unpalatable diet, may be associated with increased injurious pecking.

Avoiding change from high- to low-protein diets may reduce the likelihood of injurious pecking starting, and ensuring that feed changes do not occur repeatedly over a short time may reduce the associated stress and onset of injurious pecking.

Masking the changes between diets by mixing diets may help to prevent disruption to the birds arising from diet change. Providing extra pecking objects when changing the diet can also help. There is evidence that low-energy diets and diets diluted with fiber are associated with reduced plumage damage, injurious pecking and mortality.

Health and hygiene

Poor health is also associated with increased feather pecking. Although the direction of cause and effect is uncertain, it is important to have a flock health and welfare plan in place.

Worm burdens should be monitored throughout the flock life through post-mortems and fecal egg counts, and worming should be carried out when tests show high egg or worm counts. Treating via water should be avoided when birds have access to puddles, which dilute the dose. Paddock rotation can help to reduce the problem.

Mites, even in moderate numbers, can cause considerable stress. Effective mite control should include regular monitoring, and prompt and effective treatment protocols should be discussed with the veterinarian.

Mucking out, cleaning and disinfecting should be conducted to a high standard to prevent the carryover of disease from one flock to the next and tailored to address the needs of the individual farm.

Disease transfer can be reduced by having a single-age site. This can also effectively rid the site of mycoplasma. Access by people and vehicles to the site should be restricted and wheel washers should be used for vehicles. Dedicated clothes for each house, including boots, and use of clean boot dips for every house can also help.

Management at lay 

Fear is often associated with feather pecking, and flocks should be managed in ways that make them least fearful. They should be regularly walked and attention paid to bird behavior. This will help in spotting injurious pecking earlier as well as managing it.

There is evidence that some birds find large and abrupt contrasts in noise, light levels and temperature frightening or stressful. To remedy this, for example, having two smaller, quieter fans might be preferable to one large noisy one operating intermittently. Eliminating draughts and reducing excessive wind entering the shed can assist in keeping the temperature even as well as helping to improve litter quality. Verandas will also help to even out extremes of temperature and light.