Research project Poultry and Pig Low-input and Organic production systems’ Welfare
General introduction
This European research project aimed to improve animal welfare in pigs and poultry kept under organic conditions and free-range systems. While these systems allow animals to express natural behaviors, they still face welfare challenges. Some issues are shared with conventional systems, such as beak trimming in laying hens, the killing of one-day-old male chicks, and male piglet castration. Other challenges are more specific to outdoor and organic systems, such as exposure to outdoor health risks and piglet survival. Specifically, the 22 project partners collaborated on innovative solutions and tools, and actively disseminated these to various stakeholders.
Research approach
The project partners choose a multi-actor participation approach. The barriers and expectations for progress in the field of animal welfare were mapped out by all interested parties, after which new strategies were developed. Through close interaction with livestock farmers and other links in the production chain, policy organizations, citizens and consumers, a selection of the most promising strategies wasmade. These strategies were further investigated through experimental and practical research. At the same time they were assessed on an economic, social and environmental level.
ILVO focused on three themes:
1. For laying hens with intact beaks, ILVO evaluated possible ways to counteract feather pecking (FP) and increase range use in a free range setting, such as the influence of the design of the range or presenting live larvae. In addition, the effect of early life measures (incubation with green light, rearing with black soldier fly larvae) on FP and range use were tested.
2. In slow growing broilers, ILVO studied whether the animals' resilience can be improved through incubation with thermal manipulation (TM),
3. ILVO coordinated a. the optimization of an existing app for farmers to self-assess poultry welfare (EBENE) b. the development of a new app for farmers to self-assess pig welfare (PIGLOW), both specifically tailored to a free-range setting. We assessed the effectiveness of optimized self-scan tools on both pig and poultry free-range farms in a 2-year longitudinal study.
Relevance/Valorization
The PPILOW project led to many interesting results, tools and collaborations. Here we focus on the results of the three research themes ILVO was involved with:
1. The study found that the early-life treatments had no impact on FP or range use. However, providing BSFL during rearing and mealworm enrichment on the range slightly improved the hens' visual discrimination abilities, highlighting the importance of enrichment throughout a hen's life. Mealworm enrichment had no significant effect on range use behavior. The hens tended to stay near the house and preferred open grassy areas over dense forest, likely due to better foraging opportunities with some cover. Although not an initial focus, the study observed that mandatory confinement negatively affected feather condition. Feather condition was better during round 2, when hens had access to a winter garden, suggesting this space enhances animal welfare while maintaining biosecurity during avian influenza outbreaks.
2. Very few long-term effects of the TM treatment on behavioural and physiological parameters (that could point to a possible improvement of the adaptive capacity of the birds) were found. As the chosen TM application procedure in the current study was largely based on studies with fast-growing broiler chickens with a higher growth rate, adjustment in exposure time, duration and temperature settings may benefit the effect of TM treatment on thermal programming and resilience in later life of slow-growing broiler chickens.
3. In a first phase, the EBENE app for poultry was optimized for use in a free-range setting and a completely new app was built for monitoring pigs in free-range settings. Both apps are available for free download in a range of languages. However, our study did not show that using the apps resulted in an overall improvement in animal welfare on the participating farms. Surveys did show that farmers found the apps user-friendly and useful, the latter especially for newcomers to the industry.
Financing
EU Horizon2020
