Feather pecking

Feather pecking is one of the major problems facing the egg industry in non-cage systems and is set to become an even greater issue with the EU legislation (Council Directive 1999/74/EC)[10] ban on the keeping of laying hens in barren battery cages which came into force in 2012, and the prospect of a ban on beak-trimming (see below).

[13][20][21] Commercial egg-laying hens have often already begun feather pecking when they are transferred to the egg laying farm from the rearing farm at approximately 16–20 weeks of age, and plumage quality can then rapidly deteriorate until peak lay at approximately 25 weeks of age.

The rump area over the uropygial gland and the tail are often the first body regions to show signs of plumage damage due to feather pecking, followed by the neck, wings and back,[23][24] although in the ostrich which has a similar pattern of feather pecking development, the uropygial gland is absent.

It has been estimated that 4% of hens on free-range farms die because of feather pecking, representing 220,000 deaths each year in the UK alone due to this behavioural problem.

EU legislation (Council Directive 1999/74/EC)[10] will ban battery or conventional cages in 2012 meaning that many producers will change to using free-range systems, possibly exacerbating this welfare problem until effective methods of its control are learned - see Defra's "A Guide To The Practical Management of Feather Pecking & Cannibalism in Free Range Laying Hens" [29] Feather pecking is a multifactorial problem and a large number of risk factors have been identified for commercial flocks.

[20][27][28][30][31] Factors likely to reduce feather pecking are: Beak-trimming, sometimes misleadingly termed debeaking, is perhaps most accurately described as "partial beak-amputation".

It is performed on poultry to reduce the incidence or damage caused by feather pecking or cannibalism and involves amputating the distal one to two thirds of the bird's beak by either a blade or infra-red beam.

[32][33] It has been shown that domestic hens have iron mineral deposits in the dendrites in the upper beak and are capable of magnetoreception.

It has been suggested that the absence of UV from artificial light sources may have a role in the causation of feather pecking in turkeys.

A trait has been identified which combines feather pecking and cannibalism leading to severe injury or death in beak-intact birds; this has a high heritability at 0.65.

These devices require time and skill to fit and therefore have problems of practicality given that commercial flocks usually contain several thousands of birds.

Such devices and practices include mutilations...and the use of bits, spectacles and hoods to prevent feather pecking, egg eating or aggression.