open access publication

Article, 2022

Enhancing their quality of life: environmental enrichment for poultry

Poultry Science, ISSN 1525-3171, 0032-5791, Volume 102, 1, Page 102233, 10.1016/j.psj.2022.102233

Contributors

Jacobs, Leonie 0000-0002-3799-5078 (Corresponding author) [1] Blatchford, Richard A [2] De Jong, Ingrid C 0000-0003-1811-499X [3] Erasmus, Marisa A 0000-0002-6501-3887 [4] Levengood, M. [5] Newberry, Ruth Catriona 0000-0002-5238-6959 [6] Regmi, Prafulla [7] Riber, Anja Brinch 0000-0002-8644-3456 [8] Weimer, Shawna L 0000-0001-5653-6945 [9]

Affiliations

  1. [1] Virginia Tech
    2. [NORA names: United States; America, North; OECD];
  2. [2] University of California, Davis
    3. [NORA names: United States; America, North; OECD];
  3. [3] Wageningen University & Research
    4. [NORA names: Netherlands; Europe, EU; OECD];
  4. [4] Purdue University West Lafayette
    5. [NORA names: United States; America, North; OECD];
  5. [5] Perdue Farms (United States)
    6. [NORA names: United States; America, North; OECD];

Abstract

Providing environmental enrichments that increase environmental complexity can benefit poultry welfare. This Poultry Science Association symposium paper is structured around four themes on 1) poultry preferences and affective states 2) species-specific behavior, including play behavior and the relationship between behavior, activity level and walking ability, 3) environmental enrichment and its relationship with indicators of welfare, and 4) a case study focusing on the application of enrichments in commercial broiler chicken production. For effective enrichment strategies, the birds' perspective matters most, and we need to consider individual variation, social dynamics, and previous experience when assessing these strategies. Play behavior can be a valuable indicator of positive affect, and while we do not yet know how much play would be optimal, absence of play suggests a welfare deficit. Activity levels and behavior can be improved by environmental modifications and prior research has shown that the activity level of broilers can be increased, at least temporarily, by increasing the environmental complexity. However, more research on impacts of enrichments on birds' resilience, on birds in commercial conditions, and on slow(er)-growing strains is needed. Finally, incorporating farmers' expertise can greatly benefit enrichment design and implementation on commercial farms.

Keywords

ability, absence, activity, activity levels, activity levels of broilers, affect, application of enrichment, applications, behavior, bird's perspective, birds, broiler chicken production, broilers, case study, cases, chicken products, commercial broiler chicken production, commercial conditions, commercial farms, complex, conditions, deficits, design, dynamics, effective enrichment strategy, enrichment, enrichment designs, enrichment strategy, environmental complexity, environmental enrichment, environmental modifications, expertise, farmers, farmers’ expertise, farms, impact, impact of enrichment, implementation, increased environmental complexity, indicative of positive affect, indicators, indicators of welfare, individual variation, levels, levels of broilers, life, modification, paper, perspective, play, play behavior, positive affect, poultry, poultry welfare, preferences, production, quality, quality of life, relationship, research, resilience, social dynamics, species-specific behaviors, state 2, strain, strategies, study, symposium papers, themes, variation, walking, walking ability, welfare, welfare deficits

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