Abstract
The effects of environmental factors on the behaviour of laying hens have been studied by several authors. Most attention has been paid to comparisons between cages and deep litter pens (Bareham 1972, Black and Hughes 1974, Hughes and Wood-Gush 1977), and the effect of flock size and density (Al-Rawi and Craig 1975, Banks and Allee 1957, Polley et al. 1974). The behaviours that have been studied include comfort behaviour, agonistic behaviour and mating behaviour. The flock sizes have mainly been small; up to about 30 hens.
A previous edition of this paper was published in Danish (461. Beretning fra statents Husdyrbrugs forsàf,111–128, Copenhagen, 1997)
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Al-Rawi, B. & Craig, J. V. 1975. Agonistic behaviour of caged chickens related to group size and area per bird. Appl. Anim. Ethol., 2, 69–80.
Banks, E. N. & Allee, W. C. 1957. Some relations between flock size and agonistic behaviour in domestic hens. Physiol. Zoöl., 30, 255–268.
Bareham, J. R. 1972. Effects of caged and semi-intensive deep litter pens on the behaviour, adrenal response and production in two strains of laying hens. Br. vet. J., 128, 153–162.
Black, A. J. & Hughes, B. O. 1974. Patterns of comfort behaviour and activity in domestic fowls: A comparison between cages and pens. Br. vet. J., 130, 23–32.
Borchelt, P. L. & Duncan, L. 1974. Dustbathing and feather lipid in Bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus). The Condor, 76, 471–472.
Borchelt, P. L., Eyer, J. & McHenry, D. S. 1973. Dustbathing in bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) as a function of dust deprivation. Behav. Biol., 8, 109–114.
Craig, J. V. & Bhagwat, A. L. 1974. Agonistic and mating behaviour of adult chickens modified by social and physical environments. Appl. Anim. Ethol., 1, 57–65.
Faber, H. von 1964. Stress and general adaptation syndrome in poultry. World’s Poult. Sci., 20, 175–182.
Flickinger, G. L. 1961. Effect of grouping on adrenals and gonads of chickens. Gen. Comp. Endocrinol., 1, 332–340.
Freeman, B. M. 1978. Stress in the laying hens. First Danish seminar on poultry welfare in egglaying cages. Landsudvalget for fjerkrae, Copenhagen.
Hughes, B. O. & Wood-Gush, D. G. M. 1977. Agonistic behaviour, in domestic hens: The influence of housing method and group size. Anim. Behav., 25, 1056–1062.
Kruijt, J. P. 1964. Ontogeny of social behaviour in Burmese red junglefowl (Gallus gallus spadiceus). Behaviour Suppl., 12, 1–201.
Levine, R. L., Hunter, J. E. & Borchelt, P. L. 1974. Dustbathing as a regulatory mechanism. Bull. Math. Biol., 36, 545–553.
Lill, A. 1968. Spatial organisation in small flocks of domestic fowl. Behaviour, 32, 258–290.
Martin, G. 1975. Über Verhaltensstörungen von Legehennen im Käfig. Angew. Ornithologie, 4, 145–176.
McBride, G. 1970. The social control of behaviour in fowls. (In “Aspects of poultry behaviour” (eds. B. M. Freeman and R. F. Gordon), Br. Egg Market. Bd. Symp. No. 6 pt. 2. Br. Poult. Sci., Edinburgh, 3–13.
Petersen, V. 1977. To driftsystemers indflydelse på æglæggende høner (The influence of two housing systems on laying hens). 461. Beret-ning fra Statens Husdyrbrugsforsøg. Copenhagen.
Polley, C. R., Craig, J. V. & Bhagwat, A. L. 1974. Crowding and agonistic behaviour: A curvilinear relationship? Poult. Sci., 53, 1621–1623.
Prip, M. 1975. Hysteri hos æglæggende høner. Rapport til Statens jordbrugs-og veterinærvidenskabelige Forskningsråd, Copenhagen, 1–58.
Siegel, H. S. 1959. The relation between crowding and weight of adrenal glands in chickens. Ecology, 40, 495–498.
Siegel, H. S. 1971. Adrenals stress and the environment. World’s Poult. Sci., 27, 327–349.
Siegel, S. 1956. Nonparametric Statistics. McGraw-Hill.
Vestergaard, K. 1977. Aggression in flocks of hens as related to density and type of floor. Paper given at the European Association for Animal Production, 28th Annual Meeting.
Vestergaard, K. 1980. The regulation of dustbathing and other behaviour patterns in the laying hen: A Lorenzian approach. Paper presented at a CEC meeting on poultry welfare, Luxembourg, 10–13 March 1980.
Vestergaard, K. 1981. Dustbathing in the domestic fowl — Diurnal rhythm and dust deprivation. Appl. Anim. Ethol. (in press).
Worsaae, H. 1977. Corticosteronanalyse. 457. Beretning fra Statens Husdyrbrugsforsøg, p. 107–115.
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1981 Springer Basel AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Vestergaard, K. (1981). Behavioural and Physiological Studies of Hens on Wire Floors and in Deep Litter Pens. In: Das Verhalten von Hühnern / The Behaviour of Fowl. Tierhaltung / Animal Management, vol 12. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-5409-2_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-5409-2_3
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel
Print ISBN: 978-3-7643-1240-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-5409-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive