Effect of beak trimming on brown growing pullets and laying hens.

摘要

A total of 1968 one-day old Isa brown hybrid fowls were kept in an aviary system (Natura type AZ-187), in which the fowls were divided in four equal groups. On day 1, half of the fowls were beak-trimmed by hot cut; the remaining fowls were not treated (controls). At the beginning of week 16, 375 fowls per group were moved to a layer shed equipped with an aviary system (Rihs Boleg type II), which was also divided in four areas. During the rearing period up to day 105, beak-trimming had only minor effects on body weight (-2.5%), weight uniformity (+4.4%), feed consumption (-1.1%) and mortality rate (1.2 vs. 1.6%). Beak-trimming resulted in increased egg production (+2.9 %) from week 21 to week 63, while feed consumption and feed conversion efficiency were reduced by 5.2 and 7.4% respectively. Egg weight was hardly affected by beak trimming, but the percentage of normal eggs (those weighing 53-65 g) was increased by 5.5%. Mortality rate of the beak-trimmed hens was reduced (2.2 vs. 12.3% in controls), mainly due to a reduction in cannibalism-related mortality (0.3 vs. 7.5%). Plumage condition of control hens worsened drastically during the laying period, whereas beak-trimmed hens kept an acceptable feathering condition up to the end of the trial inweek 63. It was concluded, that beak-trimming at day 1 was an effective method for reducing feather pecking and cannibalism, and for improving production traits.