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Proquest Dissertations AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE MOTIVATION BEHIND THE ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR OF FEATHER PECKING IN LAYING HENS A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Graduate Studies of The University of Guelph By LAURA M. DIXON In partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy February, 2008 © Laura M. Dixon, 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47588-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-47588-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation. reproduced without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne Privacy Act some supporting sur la protection de la vie privee, forms may have been removed quelques formulaires secondaires from this thesis. ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires in the document page count, aient inclus dans la pagination, their removal does not represent il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. any loss of content from the thesis. Canada ABSTRACT AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE MOTIVATION BEHIND THE ABNORMAL BEHAVIOUR OF FEATHER PECKING IN LAYING HENS Laura M. Dixon Co-Ad visors: University of Guelph, 2008 Dr. I.J.H. Duncan & Dr. G.J. Mason This thesis investigates the motivation behind the feather pecking behaviour common in the laying hen industry. The severe version of this pecking is a welfare concern, since feather removal is painful for the pecked bird and current solutions to this problem, such as beak-trimming and housing in wire cages to limit contact with conspecifics, are also detrimental to well-being. It has been hypothesized that feather pecking stems from frustrated motivation to forage or to dustbathe. However, the evidence to date is not conclusive, since foraging and dustbathing share similarities; it has thus not always been clear which motivation is being fulfilled when birds are interacting with a substrate. The objectives of this thesis were to (1) determine whether early experience or current environment had a greater influence on feather pecking; (2) determine the diurnal rhythm of feather pecking and compare this to dustbathing and foraging; (3) determine the effects of different types, of enrichment on feather pecking; (4) validate a new method of studying abnormal (stereotypic) behaviour patterns; and (5) apply this to uncover the underlying motivation behind feather pecking. In addition, (6) the methods used here, and in previous research on similar problems, were surveyed to analyse how future work should best test hypotheses about the motivational bases of abnormal behaviour. Results showed that current environment was most influential on the levels of feather pecking shown (P<0.05) and this over-rode any potential positive effects of early substrate access (P>0.05). Feather pecking was evenly distributed throughout the light hours, as was foraging (P>0.05 for both), whereas dustbathing peaked around four to seven hours after lights on (P<0.05). The provision of any of the enrichments used decreased the amount of feather pecking, but foraging substrates decreased it the most (P<0.05). A novel method of studying abnormal behaviour using Fixed Action Patterns was validated, with the motivation behind a behaviour pattern influencing the motor patterns involved. The motor patterns (head angles, durations of movements and fixation) involved in foraging and dustbathing pecks proved to be different (P<0.05), and severe feather pecks were found to be similar to foraging pecks (P>0.05) but different from dustbathing pecks (P<0.05). Overall, it appears that severe feather pecking stems from frustrated foraging behaviour and the design of industry-useable forages should be encouraged. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First I would like to thank Ian Duncan, whose support and interest brought me to Guelph and Georgia Mason, whose instruction and encouragement helped me to improve as a scientist and a writer. Both this thesis and I, personally, have benefitted from your expertise and knowledge and both are better for it. Also thanks to Tina Widowski and Suzanne Millman for great comments and advice throughout my PhD. Second, I would like to thank all my friends and family who have supported me through my PhD. Special thanks to my fiance Bruce Halstead, parents Linda and Lloyd Dixon and grandparents Gladys and Albert Legge for hugs, words of comfort and delicious cookies! Additional thanks to Emily Toth-Tamminga, Jenn Brown, Maria Diez Leon, Allison Bechard, Becky Meagher, Uta vonBorstel, Colleen Doherty, Val and Les Toth, the Halstead's, the Clark's, the Clifford-Rakush's, and the Animal Behaviour and Welfare group at the University of Guelph. Included in my family, I'd also like to thank the various animal companions I've had the privilege to know over the past few years: especially my 'daughter' Jingle, Falcon (Pointy Roozle), Tenna, Harpie and Panther, plus the rest of the non-human Glenire acres gang. Third, I'd like to thank the hundreds of chickens who participated in various experiments throughout my PhD. At the risk of being anthropomorphic, I would like to acknowledge their help and the sacrifice of their lives to further our knowledge of chicken behaviour and welfare. Last, I'd like to dedicate this thesis to my dog, Kuno (2000-2008) who passed away shortly before my thesis defence. He was without a doubt the 'bestest' dog and he will be missed terribly. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables p.iii List of Figures p.v Chapter 1: A review of feather pecking literature and welfare issues associated with it p.l Chapter 2: Changes in substrate access did not affect early feather pecking behaviour in two strains of laying hen chicks, p.38 Chapter 3: A comparison of the diurnal rhythms involved in feather pecking, foraging and dustbathing in laying hen chicks, p.61 Chapter 4: The effects of four types of enrichment on feather pecking behaviour in laying hens housed in barren environments, p.81 Preface to Chapter 5 p. 100 Chapter 5: What's in a peck? Using Fixed Action Pattern morphology to identify the motivational basis of abnormal feather pecking behaviour, p. 101 Chapter 6: A review of the methods used to study the motivations underlying stereotypic behaviour patterns, p. 141 Chapter 7: General Discussion and conclusion, p. 188 References p.200 Appendix A: Substrate Validation for Chapter 5. p.250 n LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: The average frequencies (per twenty-minute observation period) of feather pecking, dustbathing, and ground pecking and scratching on wire and peat moss floor treatments, combining strains, for Period One. p.57 Table 2.2: The average frequencies (per twenty-minute observation period) of feather pecking, dustbathing, and ground pecking and scratching on wire and peat moss floor treatments for Period Two. p.58 Table 2.3: The average frequencies (per twenty-minute observation period) of feather pecking, dustbathing, and ground pecking and scratching for ISA White Leghorns and ISA Brown Leghorns during Period One. p.59 Table 2.4: The average frequencies (per twenty-minute observation period) of feather pecking, dustbathing, and ground pecking and scratching for ISA White Leghorns and ISA Brown Leghorns during Period Two. p.60 Table 3.1: The correlations between feather pecking compared to foraging and dustbathing for the three Periods the daylight hours were divided into. The data in each box represent the correlation value (r), the corresponding P-Value and the sample size (n). The * symbol denotes a significant correlation, p.80 Table 4.1: Example of Latin Square Design used, p.98 Table 4.2: All combinations of the four enrichments were used as Latin Squares and each Latin Square combination was replicated. The last stimulus presented was repeated to account for potential carry-over effects (not shown in table). D = dustbath; F = forage; Nov = novel object; Not = no enrichment, p.99 Table 5.1: A comparison of the morphology involved in different types of pecks, p. 136 Table 5.2: A comparison of various aspects of the peck morphology involved in gentle and severe feather pecks, p. 137 Table 5.3: Comparison of the Chicken-Shaped and Flat varieties of stimuli, p. 138 Table 5.4: Severe feather pecks compared to the other types of pecks, p. 139 Table 5.5: Gentle feather pecks compared to the other types of pecks, p. 140 iv LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1: An example of severe feather pecking that led to bleeding, p.37 Figure 2.1: The experimental set-up for chicks in peat moss and wire floored pens for Period One.
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