Behavioural and physiological responses of laying hens to humans
L. E. Edwards A D , N. A. Botheras B , G. J. Coleman C and P. H. Hemsworth AA Animal Welfare Science Centre, University of Melbourne, Vic. 3010, Australia.
B Animal Welfare Science Centre, The Ohio State University, Ohio 43210, USA.
C Animal Welfare Science Centre, Monash University, Vic. 3800, Australia.
D Corresponding author. Email: ledwards@unimelb.edu.au
Animal Production Science 50(6) 557-559 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN09227
Submitted: 17 December 2009 Accepted: 5 March 2010 Published: 11 June 2010
Abstract
Human interactions, particularly negative ones, affect the behaviour and physiology of laying hens, with possible implications for bird productivity and welfare. The present experiment investigated the effects of handling on the behaviour and plasma corticosterone concentrations of laying hens. A 2 × 2 × 3 factorial design was used to study the following three main effects: human contact during rearing [an additional 12 min of human contact per day (AC) or no additional contact (MC) during rearing]; handling quality in adulthood [brief daily exposure to positive (+ve) or negative (–ve) visual contact with a human]; and handling proximity in adulthood [handling-quality treatment (+ve or –ve) imposed at the following three distances from the birds: Near, 0–45 cm; Middle, 45–75 cm, or Far, 75–105 cm]. AC during rearing resulted in reduced avoidance behaviour of humans during adulthood, whereas handling imposed at the Far level resulted in greater avoidance behaviour than did handling at the Near or Middle level. The quality of the handling (+ve or –ve) had little effect on avoidance behaviour; however, there was a trend (P = 0.07) for hens receiving +ve handling to have a lower corticosterone response to human contact than those receiving –ve handling. These results demonstrate that visual human contact can influence the avoidance behaviour of laying hens.
Additional keywords: corticosterone, fear, human–animal interactions, laying hens.
Barnett JL,
Hemsworth PH,
Hennessy DP,
McCallum TH, Newman EA
(1994) The effects of modifying the amount of human contact on behavioural, physiological and production responses of laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 41, 87–100.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hemsworth PH
(2003) Human–animal interactions in livestock production. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 81, 185–198.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Hemsworth PH,
Barnett JL, Jones RB
(1993) Situational factors that influence the level of fear of humans by laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 36, 197–210.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Jones RB
(1993) Reduction of the domestic chick’s fear of human beings by regular handling and related treatments. Animal Behaviour 46, 991–998.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Jones RB, Waddington D
(1992) Modification of fear in domestic chicks, Gallus gallus domesticus, via regular handling and early environmental enrichment. Animal Behaviour 43, 1021–1033.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
