The use of pecking blocks as foraging enrichment for improvement of feather condition in laying hens

啄羽导致羽被损伤、损伤和死亡是密集群和非笼养蛋鸡中常见的问题。啄羽是一种重定向觅食的形式，当蛋鸡获得觅食资源时，这种行为出现的风险较低。《小母鸡和蛋鸡护理和处理操作规程》是加拿大蛋品行业的国家护理标准，要求提供觅食资源，但没有具体说明哪些资源最合适。啄块是矿物质（主要是碳酸钙），谷物和/或其他纤维来源的压缩块，并建议钝化母鸡的喙。因此，他们是有前途的觅食资源，可以提供丰富的殖民地和非笼住房。然而，在加拿大的两种住房制度中，都缺乏关于啄块对啄羽行为影响的比较和详细研究。该项目将检查市售啄块的有效性，以加强觅食，从而减少富集群落和非笼养中小母鸡和产蛋母鸡的啄羽行为。拟议的实验使用实验室和现场研究，以密切代表现实世界的情况下，并调查鸟类的动机与啄食块，其中位置（S）是最可行的系统内，并量化羽毛啄食，羽毛损伤和生产结果在整个奠定的影响。了解啄食块的使用及其对鸟类羽毛覆盖的潜在好处不仅有利于鸟类本身，也有利于成千上万的蛋农和数百万关心生产实践的加拿大消费者。

Feather pecking leading to damaged feather cover, injury and mortality is a common problem in laying hens in enriched colonies and non-cage housing. Feather pecking is a form of redirected foraging and the risk of this behaviour appearing is lower when laying hens are given foraging resources. The Code of Practice for the Care and Handling of Pullets and Laying Hens, the national standard of care for the egg industry in Canada, requires foraging resources, though it does not specify which resources are most suitable. Pecking blocks are compressed blocks of minerals (mainly calcium carbonate), grains and/or other fiber sources, and are suggested to blunt hens' beaks. Consequently, they are promising foraging resources that can be provided in both enriched colonies and non-cage housing. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of comparative and detailed studies on the impact of pecking blocks on feather pecking in either housing system in Canada. This project will examine the effectiveness of commercially available pecking blocks to enhance foraging and, thereby, reduce feather pecking in pullets and laying hens in enriched colonies and non-cage housing. The proposed experiments use laboratory and field studies to closely represent real-world scenarios and investigate birds' motivation to interact with the pecking blocks, which location(s) is/are most feasible within the system, and quantify effects on feather pecking, feather damage, and production outcomes throughout lay. Understanding the use of pecking blocks and their potential benefit on the feather cover of birds will not only benefit the birds themselves, but the thousands of egg farmers and millions of Canadian consumers who care about production practices.