Simulation of maternal care to improve welfare in chickens

对于家养的小鸡来说，母鸡是一个重要的榜样；小鸡从它们的母亲那里学到了很多关于啄什么，什么时候休息，以及当有威胁时如何表现的知识。然而，在大型养殖场，允许母鸡自己饲养小鸡在商业上是不可行的。去年，在英国，大约9亿只家养小鸡在大型孵化器中孵化并人工饲养，没有母鸡。以这种方式饲养的没有母亲的小鸡更害怕，也更有可能出现行为问题，比如啄其他鸡的羽毛和皮；这是一个非常普遍和严重的福利问题。由于自然孵化在商业农场中不是一种选择，该项目的目的是人工模拟母婴护理的一些重要特征，从而产生健康、不那么可怕、福利更高的鸡。例如，一种模拟母亲在指挥雏鸟啄食活动中的角色的方法可能是在喂食器附近播放母亲喂食呼叫的录音，以鼓励雏鸟啄食食物，而不是幼鸟配偶的羽毛。为了开发这些人工模拟的母鸡护理，我将首先观察母鸡是如何通过识别导致更少恐惧、更高福利的母鸡护理特征来有效地表现的。在找出最有效的特征之后，对未孵化的雏鸟进行小规模研究将使我能够评估对这些特征的人工模拟在改善雏鸡福利方面是否可行和有效。最后，候选的人工产妇护理特征将被推广到商业蛋鸡养殖场，以确定福利福利是否可以大规模复制并持续到生产期结束。该项目不仅将提供对鸟类母性行为的基本新见解，而且将导致实际和有效的动物福利解决方案；BBSRC的战略优先事项。

For a domestic chick, the mother hen is an important role model; chicks learn a great deal from their mother about what to peck, when to rest and how to behave when there is a threat. However, in large farms, allowing hens to rear their own chicks is not commercially viable and in the UK last year, around 900 million domestic chicks were hatched in large incubators and reared artificially, without a mother hen. Chicks reared without a mother in this way are more fearful and more likely to develop behavioural problems, such as pecking the feathers and skin of other chickens; a highly prevalent and serious welfare concern. Since natural brooding is not an option on commercial farms, the aim of this project is to artificially simulate a number of important features of maternal care that result in healthy, less fearful, higher welfare chickens. For example, one method of simulating the mother's role in directing chick pecking activity might be to play recordings of maternal feeding calls near to feeders, to encourage the chicks to peck at food rather than the feathers of their brood mates. To develop these artificial simulations of maternal care, I will first observe how effective mother hens behave by identifying features of maternal care that result in less fearful, higher welfare chicks. After pinpointing the most effective features, small scale studies with non-brooded chicks will allow me to assess whether artificial simulation of these features is feasible and effective in improving chick welfare. Finally, candidate artificial features of maternal care will then be rolled out onto commercial laying hen farms to determine whether the welfare benefits can be replicated on a large scale and persist until the end of the production period. This project will not only provide fundamental new insight into avian maternal behaviour, but will result in practical and effective animal welfare solutions; a strategic priority for BBSRC.