This study assessed the occurrence of keel bone lesions and prominence, breast blisters, and footpad lesions at slaughtering on carcasses of laying hens in 50 commercial flocks in Italy. The effects of housing systems (enriched cages, floor system, multi-tier system), supplementary ramps, hen genotype (white vs. brown), age (≤90 vs. >90 weeks), flock size (<25,000, 25,000–80,000, >80,000 hens), and slaughter season (spring, summer, autumn, winter) were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression with 95% confidence intervals. As for footpad lesions, compared to hens in multi-tier systems, odd ratio (OR) of occurrence was higher in floor systems (1.43) and lower in enriched cages (0.75); it increased with the slaughtering age (1.41); it was lower in white (0.41) compared to brown hens , and in medium (0.54) and big (0.47) compared to small flocks; then, it was higher in autumn (2.45) and winter (3.37) compared to spring (P<0.001). As for keel bone deviations, OR was lower in hens in floor systems (0.78) and higher in enriched cages (1.41) compared to multi-tier systems (P<0.001); it was higher in white (1.26) compared to brown hens and in medium (1.50) compared to small flocks (P<0.001); it was lower in flocks slaughtered after 90 weeks (0.84) than before and in flocks slaughtered in winter (0.70) compared to spring (P<0.001). As for keel bone fractures, OR was higher in enriched cages (1.66) compared to multi-tier systems; lower in white (0.69) compared to brown hens (P<0.001) and in flocks slaughtered after 90 weeks of age (0.69) than before (P<0.001); then OR was higher both for medium (1.69) and big flocks (1.83) compared to small flocks (P<0.001), and in winter (2.94) compared to spring (P<0.001). In conclusion, keel bone and skin lesions are important on-farm welfare indicators, with genotype and housing system playing key roles in their occurrence. Further research is needed to better understand the impacts of flock size and slaughter season on the welfare of laying hens.
On-farm welfare of laying hens: animal-based measures at slaughterhouse and risk factors in Italian farms
Ciarelli, C.;Bordignon, F.;Xiccato, G.;Trocino, A.
2025
Abstract
This study assessed the occurrence of keel bone lesions and prominence, breast blisters, and footpad lesions at slaughtering on carcasses of laying hens in 50 commercial flocks in Italy. The effects of housing systems (enriched cages, floor system, multi-tier system), supplementary ramps, hen genotype (white vs. brown), age (≤90 vs. >90 weeks), flock size (<25,000, 25,000–80,000, >80,000 hens), and slaughter season (spring, summer, autumn, winter) were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression with 95% confidence intervals. As for footpad lesions, compared to hens in multi-tier systems, odd ratio (OR) of occurrence was higher in floor systems (1.43) and lower in enriched cages (0.75); it increased with the slaughtering age (1.41); it was lower in white (0.41) compared to brown hens , and in medium (0.54) and big (0.47) compared to small flocks; then, it was higher in autumn (2.45) and winter (3.37) compared to spring (P<0.001). As for keel bone deviations, OR was lower in hens in floor systems (0.78) and higher in enriched cages (1.41) compared to multi-tier systems (P<0.001); it was higher in white (1.26) compared to brown hens and in medium (1.50) compared to small flocks (P<0.001); it was lower in flocks slaughtered after 90 weeks (0.84) than before and in flocks slaughtered in winter (0.70) compared to spring (P<0.001). As for keel bone fractures, OR was higher in enriched cages (1.66) compared to multi-tier systems; lower in white (0.69) compared to brown hens (P<0.001) and in flocks slaughtered after 90 weeks of age (0.69) than before (P<0.001); then OR was higher both for medium (1.69) and big flocks (1.83) compared to small flocks (P<0.001), and in winter (2.94) compared to spring (P<0.001). In conclusion, keel bone and skin lesions are important on-farm welfare indicators, with genotype and housing system playing key roles in their occurrence. Further research is needed to better understand the impacts of flock size and slaughter season on the welfare of laying hens.
Pubblicazioni consigliate
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
