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Keel-bone damage and foot injuries in commercial laying hens in Denmark

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

AB Riber  and
LK Hinrichsen
AB Riber*
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, PO Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
LK Hinrichsen
Affiliation:
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, PO Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: anja.riber@anis.au.dk
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Abstract

Keel-bone damage and foot injuries have a negative impact on welfare in laying hens. The extent of the problems in Danish commercial flocks of layers is unknown. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the current prevalence of keel-bone damage and foot injuries in Danish commercial flocks of laying hens and to investigate the effects of production system, housing system, hybrid and age. The occurrences of keel-bone damage, hyperkeratosis and missing toes were higher at 62 compared to 32 weeks of age, while the reverse was found for toe wounds, foot-pad lesions and bumble feet. There was no difference between barn and organic production systems in the risk of having keel-bone fractures and foot injuries, except that barn hens were more likely to have foot-pad lesions than organic hens (32 weeks: 16.1 vs 3.1%). Hens in multi-tiered systems were more likely to have keel-bone fractures compared to hens in single-tiered systems (62 weeks: 11.6 vs 4.9%). Of the four hybrids, Lohmann Brown Lite had a higher risk of keel-bone fractures, whereas bumble feet were found more frequently in Lohmann LSL Keel-bone damage and foot injuries are less common in Danish non-cage systems compared to most of the reporting presently available from other countries. We suggest transnational studies, aimed at identifying the causal factors of this discrepancy, to increase existing knowledge on how to reduce incidences of keel-bone damage and foot injuries.

Keywords

animal welfarefoot injurieshousing systemkeel-bone damagelaying henproduction system
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 25 , Issue 2 , May 2016 , pp. 179 - 184
Copyright
© 2016 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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