Placing of enrichment and its impact on the distribution of hens in the outdoor run
The majority of the organic egg producers in Sweden are certified according to the rules of the organisation KRAV, who have stricter directions than the legislation of the European commission. In 2013, KRAV decided to clarify the rule on use of the outdoor area to ensure a maximum utilization of the...
| Autor principal: | |
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| Formato: | Second cycle, A2E |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2016
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| Acceso en línea: | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/9387/ |
| _version_ | 1855571511313694720 |
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| author | Hedborg, Mathilda |
| author_browse | Hedborg, Mathilda |
| author_facet | Hedborg, Mathilda |
| author_sort | Hedborg, Mathilda |
| collection | Epsilon Archive for Student Projects |
| description | The majority of the organic egg producers in Sweden are certified according to the rules of the organisation KRAV, who have stricter directions than the legislation of the European commission. In 2013, KRAV decided to clarify the rule on use of the outdoor area to ensure a maximum utilization of the offered area. This was met with dissatisfaction among many egg producers who saw great difficulties in encouraging hens to move around the entire pasture area. As a response, KRAV formed a project group to investigate different methods to increase the hens' utilization of the outdoor run. This master thesis was included in the project with the purpose to compare how two different arrangements of the same type of artificial enrichment affected the distribution of the hens on the range.
The experiment was conducted on four organic egg farms in Östergötland county in Sweden during April and May in 2015. In one paddock on each farm, two arrangements of enrichments were set up. Each arrangement consisted of eight tin roofs with four wooden legs and eight big straw bales. In one arrangement the enrichment was placed in a line with a straw bale and thereafter a roof and so on. In the other arrangement one roof was paired with a straw bale and these pairs were placed in a zigzag formation with ten meters in diagonal from each other. The 30-meter empty area between the two arrangements of enrichment functioned as a control area.
The enriched areas attracted more hens than the control area but the difference between the two arrangements of enrichment was not as clear. The zigzag arrangement seemed to be more favourable, with a higher number of hens than the line formation, but the result was not statistically significant and differed between farms. Hens moved further out within the enriched areas, but usually no more than 35 meters, with only a few hens as far out as 50 meters on a few occasions. Due to other parameters such as weather condition and differences in paddock design between farms it is difficult to draw a conclusion of which one of the arrangements is more preferable than the other. As found in several earlier studies, there are indications in this study that enriched areas attract more birds compared to areas with no enrichment. |
| format | Second cycle, A2E |
| id | RepoSLU9387 |
| institution | Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences |
| language | Inglés Inglés |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| record_format | eprints |
| spelling | RepoSLU93872016-11-09T14:26:40Z https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/9387/ Placing of enrichment and its impact on the distribution of hens in the outdoor run Hedborg, Mathilda Animal husbandry The majority of the organic egg producers in Sweden are certified according to the rules of the organisation KRAV, who have stricter directions than the legislation of the European commission. In 2013, KRAV decided to clarify the rule on use of the outdoor area to ensure a maximum utilization of the offered area. This was met with dissatisfaction among many egg producers who saw great difficulties in encouraging hens to move around the entire pasture area. As a response, KRAV formed a project group to investigate different methods to increase the hens' utilization of the outdoor run. This master thesis was included in the project with the purpose to compare how two different arrangements of the same type of artificial enrichment affected the distribution of the hens on the range. The experiment was conducted on four organic egg farms in Östergötland county in Sweden during April and May in 2015. In one paddock on each farm, two arrangements of enrichments were set up. Each arrangement consisted of eight tin roofs with four wooden legs and eight big straw bales. In one arrangement the enrichment was placed in a line with a straw bale and thereafter a roof and so on. In the other arrangement one roof was paired with a straw bale and these pairs were placed in a zigzag formation with ten meters in diagonal from each other. The 30-meter empty area between the two arrangements of enrichment functioned as a control area. The enriched areas attracted more hens than the control area but the difference between the two arrangements of enrichment was not as clear. The zigzag arrangement seemed to be more favourable, with a higher number of hens than the line formation, but the result was not statistically significant and differed between farms. Hens moved further out within the enriched areas, but usually no more than 35 meters, with only a few hens as far out as 50 meters on a few occasions. Due to other parameters such as weather condition and differences in paddock design between farms it is difficult to draw a conclusion of which one of the arrangements is more preferable than the other. As found in several earlier studies, there are indications in this study that enriched areas attract more birds compared to areas with no enrichment. Majoriteten av de svenska ekologiska äggproducenterna är certifierade enligt organisationen KRAVs regler vilka är striktare än den lagstiftning som återfinns i de europeiska förordningarna för ekologisk produktion. År 2013 beslutade KRAV att skärpa reglerna för ekologiska KRAV-höns utevistelse genom att öka kravet på deras utnyttjande av hela hagen. Den nya regeländringen fick stort motstånd från äggproducenterna som upplevde stora svårigheter att leva upp till det nya kravet att få sina höns att röra sig på hela den givna ytan. För att möta denna kritik satte KRAV samman en projektgrupp med uppgiften att finna metoder för att öka hönsens vilja att utnyttja hela hagen. Det här examensarbetet ingick i projektet med syfte att undersöka om placering av en viss typ av artificiell berikning kunde öka distributionen av hönorna. Likadana skydd placerades på två olika vis i hagen och därefter bedömdes vilken av dessa uppställningar som attraherade flest höns och fick dem att röra sig längst ut i hagen. Försöket genomfördes på fyra ekologiska värphönsgårdar i Östergötlands län i Sverige i april och maj månad under år 2015. I en hage på varje gård placerades skydden på två vis med åtta plåttak med fyra träben och åtta storbalar av halm i vardera uppställningen. I den ena uppställningen stod skydden i en lång linje med varannan halmbal och vartannat plåttak. I det andra arrangemanget placerades ett plåttak i par tillsammans med en halmbal. Dessa parvisa berikningar placerades i ett sicksack-mönster med tio meter i diagonal från varandra. Det tomma området mellan de båda uppställningarna med en bredd på 30 meter fungerade som kontroll. De berikade områdena tenderade att attrahera fler höns än kontrollområdena men skillnaden mellan de olika placeringarna av skydd var inte lika tydlig. Sicksack-formationen verkade mer fördelaktig med ett större antal höns jämfört med linjeformationen men resultatet var inte signifikant och skiljde sig mellan gårdarna. Hönsen förflyttade sig längre ut inom de berikade områdena men sällan längre än 35 meter. Endast ett fåtal höns gick 50 meter ut. På grund av andra parametrar så som väder och skillnader i hagarnas utseende, är det svårt att dra en slutsats om vilken uppställning av skydd som är mer gynnsam än den andra. I likhet med tidigare studier fanns indikationer på att berikning i hagen attraherar fler höns att gå ut jämfört med hagar utan berikning. 2016-07-08 Second cycle, A2E NonPeerReviewed application/pdf en https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/9387/1/hedborg_m_160819.pdf Hedborg, Mathilda, 2016. Placing of enrichment and its impact on the distribution of hens in the outdoor run. Second cycle, A2E. Uppsala: (VH) > Dept. of Animal Environment and Health (until 231231) <https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/view/divisions/OID-880.html> urn:nbn:se:slu:epsilon-s-5647 eng |
| spellingShingle | Animal husbandry Hedborg, Mathilda Placing of enrichment and its impact on the distribution of hens in the outdoor run |
| title | Placing of enrichment and its impact on the distribution of hens in the outdoor run |
| title_full | Placing of enrichment and its impact on the distribution of hens in the outdoor run |
| title_fullStr | Placing of enrichment and its impact on the distribution of hens in the outdoor run |
| title_full_unstemmed | Placing of enrichment and its impact on the distribution of hens in the outdoor run |
| title_short | Placing of enrichment and its impact on the distribution of hens in the outdoor run |
| title_sort | placing of enrichment and its impact on the distribution of hens in the outdoor run |
| topic | Animal husbandry |
| url | https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/9387/ https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/9387/ |