Beak trimming is used worldwide as a method of reducing the damage to feathers and skin caused by injurious pecking in laying hens. However, beak trimming also causes some welfare issues as trimming the beak results in pain and sensory loss. Due to this dilemma, there is an ongoing discussion in several European countries about whether to ban beak trimming. In this study, we investigated the welfare consequences of keeping layers with intact beaks and examined for links between injurious pecking damage and keel bone damage on an individual level. A study was conducted on 10 commercial farms housing laying hens in the barn system. Each farm participated with a flock of beak-trimmed hens (T) and a flock of non-trimmed (NT) hens that were visited around 32 and 62 weeks of age. During visits, the condition of plumage, skin, feet, and keel bone of 100 hens was assessed. Mortality was recorded by the producers. NT flocks had a lower prevalence of hens with good plumage condition around 32 weeks of age (94.1 vs. 99.6%, P < 0.001) and a higher prevalence of hens with poor plumage condition at 62 weeks of age (63.6 vs. 15.2%, P < 0.001) compared with T flocks. The prevalence of hens with keel bone deviations, with both keel bone fractures and deviations and with body wounds, was higher in NT flocks compared with T flocks at both ages (P < 0.001). Accumulated mortality from placement to end of production tended to be higher in NT flocks compared with T flocks (14.2 vs. 8.6%; P = 0.06). The prevalence of keel bone damage was higher among hens with poor plumage condition than hens with moderate/good plumage condition (31.5 vs. 22.2%; P < 0.001). Thus, omitting beak trimming had negative consequences for the condition of plumage, skin, and keel bone, and tended to increase mortality, highlighting the risk of reduced welfare when keeping layers with intact beaks. In addition, injurious pecking damage was found to be positively linked to keel bone damage. The causal relation is unknown, but we propose that fearfulness is an important factor.
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机译：喙修剪在全世界范围内被用作减少因蛋鸡啄啄而对羽毛和皮肤造成损害的方法。但是，修剪喙也会引起一些福利问题，因为修剪喙会导致疼痛和感觉丧失。由于这种困境，一些欧洲国家正在进行有关是否禁止喙修整的讨论。在这项研究中，我们调查了保持喙完整的福利后果，并从单个角度检查了啄伤性伤害与龙骨伤害之间的联系。对在谷仓系统中安置蛋鸡的10个商业农场进行了研究。每个农场都有32只和62周龄的雀鸟修剪的母鸡（T）和非修剪的（NT）母鸡。在访问期间，评估了100只母鸡的羽毛，皮肤，脚和龙骨的状况。生产者记录了死亡率。在32周龄时，NT鸡群具有良好羽毛状况的母鸡患病率较低（94.1对99.6％，P <0.001），而在62周龄时具有较差羽毛状况的母鸡的患病率较高（63.6对15.2％， P <0.001）与T鸡群相比。在两个年龄段，NT鸡群的龙骨畸形，龙骨骨折和畸形以及身体伤口的患病率均高于T鸡群（P <0.001）。与T群体相比，NT群体从放养到生产结束的累积死亡率往往更高（14.2 vs. 8.6％； P = 0.06）。羽毛状况较差的母鸡的龙骨损伤患病率高于中等/良好羽毛状况的母鸡（31.5 vs. 22.2％； P <0.001）。因此，省略喙的修剪会对羽毛，皮肤和龙骨的状况产生负面影响，并且往往会增加死亡率，从而突出了在保持喙完整的情况下降低福利的风险。此外，还发现伤害性啄食损害与龙骨损害正相关。因果关系是未知的，但我们建议恐惧是一个重要因素。
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