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Furnished Cages
A furnished cage, sometimes called enriched cage, colony cage or modified cage, is a type of cage used in poultry farming for egg laying hens. Furnished cages have been designed to overcome some of the welfare concerns of battery cages (also called 'conventional' or 'traditional cages') whilst retaining their economic and husbandry advantages, and also provide some of the welfare advantages over non-cage systems. Many design features of furnished cages have been incorporated because research in animal welfare science has shown them to be of benefit to the hens. History and legislation Battery cages have already banned in several countries including all European Union member states (since 2012 under European Union Council Directive 1999/74/EC), Norway (since 2012) and Switzerland (since 1992). New Zealand will phase out battery cages by 2022 and Canada by 2036. Prototype commercial furnished cage systems were being developed in the 1980s. As alternatives to battery cages, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Poultry Farming
Poultry farming is the form of animal husbandry which raises domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and geese to produce meat or eggs for food. Poultry – mostly chickens – are farmed in great numbers. More than 60 billion chickens are killed for consumption annually. Chickens raised for eggs are known as layers, while chickens raised for meat are called broilers. In the United States, the national organization overseeing poultry production is the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In the UK, the national organisation is the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). Intensive and alternative According to the World Watch Institute, 74 percent of the world's poultry meat, and 68 percent of eggs are produced intensively.''State of the World 2006'' World "atch Institute, p. 26 One alternative to intensive poultry farming is free-range farming using lower stocking densities. Poultry producers routinely use nationally approved medications, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nortura
Nortura is a Norwegian agricultural cooperative that operates slaughterhouses and other processing plants related to meat and eggs. The company was created as a merger between Gilde Norsk Kjøtt and Prior Norge in 2006, and has head offices in Oslo. Nortura is Norway's biggest food supplier. It processed 222 thousand tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the short ton ( United State ...s of meat at 31 plants in 2017. The company is owned by about 18,900 farmers throughout the country and is one of 13 agricultural cooperatives in Norway. Annual revenue is NOK 23,5 billion. The main brands include Gilde (red meat), Prior (white meat and eggs), Terina (frozen and canned foods), Alfathi (halal slaughtered meat), Eldhus (smoked meat) and Thulefjord (products from Northern Norway). Referen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animal Welfare
Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity, disease, immunosuppression, behavior, physiology, and reproduction, although there is debate about which of these best indicate animal welfare. Respect for animal welfare is often based on the belief that nonhuman animals are sentient and that consideration should be given to their well-being or suffering, especially when they are under the care of humans. These concerns can include how animals are slaughtered for food, how they are used in scientific research, how they are kept (as pets, in zoos, farms, circuses, etc.), and how human activities affect the welfare and survival of wild species. There are two forms of criticism of the concept of animal welfare, coming from diametrically opposite positions. One view, held by some th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Feather Pecking
Feather pecking is a behavioural problem that occurs most frequently amongst domestic hens reared for egg production,Huber-Eicher, B. and Sebo, F. 2001. The prevalence of feather pecking and development in commercial flocks of laying hens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 74: 223–231Sherwin, C.M., Richards, G.J and Nicol, C.J. 2010. A comparison of the welfare of layer hens in four housing systems in the UK. British Poultry Science, 51(4): 488-499 although it does occur in other poultry such as pheasants,Butler, D.A. and Davis, C. 2010. Effects of plastic bits on the condition and behaviour of captive-reared pheasants. Veterinary. Record, 166: 398-401 turkeys,Sherwin, C.M., 2010. Turkeys: Behavior, Management and Well-Being. In “The Encyclopaedia of Animal Science”. Wilson G. Pond and Alan W. Bell (Eds). Marcel Dekker. pp. 847-849 ducks,Gustafson, L.A., Cheng, H.W., Garner, J.P., et al. 2007. Effects of bill-trimming Muscovy ducks on behavior, body weight gain, and bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cannibalism (poultry)
Cannibalism in poultry is the act of one individual of a poultry species consuming all or part of another individual of the same species as food. It commonly occurs in flocks of domestic hens reared for egg production, although it can also occur in domestic turkeys, pheasants and other poultry species. Poultry create a social order of dominance known as pecking order. When pressure occurs within the flock, pecking can increase in aggression and escalate to cannibalism. Cannibalism can occur as a consequence of feather pecking which has caused denuded areas and bleeding on a bird's skin.Savory, J., (2010). Nutrition, feeding and drinking behaviour, and welfare. In ''The Welfare of Domestic Fowl and Other Captive Birds'', I.J.H. Duncan and P. Hawkins (Eds). Springer. pp. 165-188 Cannibalism can cause large mortality rates within the flock and large decreases in production due to the stress it causes. Vent pecking, sometimes called 'cloacal cannibalism', is considered to be a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sham Dustbathing
Sham dustbathing is a behaviour performed by some birds when kept in cages with little or no access to litter, during which the birds perform all the elements of normal dustbathing, but in the complete ''absence'' of any substrate.Olsson, I.A.S., Keeling L.J. and Duncan, I.J.H., 2002. Why do hens sham dustbathe when they have litter? Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 76: 53–64Merrill, R.J.N., Cooper, J.J., Albentosa M.J. and Nicol, C.J., 2006. The preferences of laying hens for perforated Astroturf over conventional wire as a dustbathing substrate in furnished cages. Animal Welfare, 15:173–178van Liere, D.W., 1992. The significance of fowls' bathing in dust. Animal Welfare, 1:187–202 This behaviour often has all the activities and temporal patterns of normal dustbathing, i.e. the bird initially scratches and bill-rakes at the ground, then erects its feathers and squats. Once lying down, the behaviour contains four main elements: vertical wing-shaking, head rubbing, bill-ra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is a systemic skeletal disorder characterized by low bone mass, micro-architectural deterioration of bone tissue leading to bone fragility, and consequent increase in Bone fracture, fracture risk. It is the most common reason for a broken bone among the Old age, elderly. Bones that commonly break include the vertebrae in the Vertebral column, spine, the bones of the forearm, and the hip. Until a broken bone occurs there are typically no symptoms. Bones may weaken to such a degree that a break may occur with minor stress or spontaneously. After the broken bone heals, the person may have chronic pain and a decreased ability to carry out normal activities. Osteoporosis may be due to lower-than-normal peak bone mass, maximum bone mass and greater-than-normal bone loss. Bone loss increases postmenopause, after the menopause due to lower levels of estrogen, and after 'andropause' due to lower levels of testosterone. Osteoporosis may also occur due to a number of diseases ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vent Pecking
Vent pecking is an abnormal behaviour of birds performed primarily by commercial egg-laying hens. It is characterised by pecking damage to the cloaca, the surrounding skin and underlying tissue.Sherwin, C.M., (2010). The welfare and ethical assessment of housing for egg production. In ''The Welfare of Domestic Fowl and Other Captive Birds'', I.J.H. Duncan and P. Hawkins (eds), Springer, pp. 237-258 Vent pecking frequently occurs immediately after an egg has been laid when the cloaca often remains partly everted exposing the mucosa,Potzsch, C.J., Lewis, K., Nicol, C.J. and Green, L.E., (2001). A cross-sectional study of the prevalence of vent pecking in laying hens in alternative systems and its associations with feather pecking, management and disease. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 74: 259-272 red from the physical trauma of oviposition or bleeding if the tissue is torn by her laying an egg. Vent pecking clearly causes pain and distress to the bird being pecked. Tearing of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hormone
A hormone (from the Greek participle , "setting in motion") is a class of signaling molecules in multicellular organisms that are sent to distant organs by complex biological processes to regulate physiology and behavior. Hormones are required for the correct development of animals, plants and fungi. Due to the broad definition of a hormone (as a signaling molecule that exerts its effects far from its site of production), numerous kinds of molecules can be classified as hormones. Among the substances that can be considered hormones, are eicosanoids (e.g. prostaglandins and thromboxanes), steroids (e.g. oestrogen and brassinosteroid), amino acid derivatives (e.g. epinephrine and auxin), protein or peptides (e.g. insulin and CLE peptides), and gases (e.g. ethylene and nitric oxide). Hormones are used to communicate between organs and tissues. In vertebrates, hormones are responsible for regulating a variety of physiological processes and behavioral activities such as diges ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corticosterone
Corticosterone, also known as 17-deoxycortisol and 11β,21-dihydroxyprogesterone, is a 21-carbon steroid hormone of the corticosteroid type produced in the cortex of the adrenal glands. It is of minor importance in humans, except in the very rare case of congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 17α-hydroxylase deficiency. Roles In many species, including amphibians, reptiles, rodents and birds, corticosterone is a main glucocorticoid, involved in regulation of energy, immune reactions, and stress responses. However, in humans, cortisol is the primary glucocorticoid that is produced primarily in the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex. Corticosterone has only weak glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid potencies in humans and is important mainly as an intermediate in the steroidogenic pathway from pregnenolone to aldosterone. Corticosterone is converted to aldosterone by aldosterone synthase, found only in the mitochondria of glomerulosa cells. Glomerulosa cells are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Range
Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals, for at least part of the day, can roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day. On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, thereby technically making this an enclosure, however, free range systems usually offer the opportunity for the extensive locomotion and sunlight that is otherwise prevented by indoor housing systems. ''Free range'' may apply to meat, eggs or dairy farming. The term is used in two senses that do not overlap completely: as a farmer-centric description of husbandry methods, and as a consumer-centric description of them. There is a diet where the practitioner only eats meat from free-range sources called ethical omnivorism. In ranching, free-range livestock are permitted to roam without being fenced in, as opposed to intensive animal farming practices such as the concentrated animal feeding operation. In many agriculture-based economies, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abnormal Behaviour Of Birds In Captivity
Abnormal behavior of birds in captivity has been found to occur among both domesticated and wild birds. Abnormal behavior can be defined in several ways. Statistically, 'abnormal' is when the occurrence, frequency or intensity of a behaviour varies statistically significantly, either more or less, from the normal value. This means that theoretically, almost any behaviour could become 'abnormal' in an individual. Less formally, 'abnormal' includes any activity judged to be outside the normal behaviour pattern for captive birds of that particular class or age. For example, running rather than flying may be a normal behaviour and regularly observed in one species, however, in another species it might be normal but becomes 'abnormal' if it reaches a high frequency, or in another species it is rarely observed and any incidence is considered 'abnormal'. This article does not include 'one-off' behaviours performed by individual birds that might be considered abnormal for that individua ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
