Feeling secure: Promoting positive welfare and resilience in laying hens

While laying hens on Swedish farms are reared in ways that protect them from harm, the birds may not perceive that they are in a safe environment.

This can result in problems of fearfulness and poor use of resources, with the associated risk of behaviour and health problems.

We propose a novel approach to increase young birds’ perception of safety while also better preparing them for the laying period.

During rearing, we shall provide birds with the choice to move between a functional Secure Zone (more dimly lit resting area with cover) and a functional Stimulation Zone (brighter activity area with varied litter types) to encourage foraging, exploration and exposure to various challenges.

We predict this will result in birds that spend more time engaging in behaviour associated with comfort, growth and learning, indicative of positive welfare.

We also predict that these birds will show greater resilience and immunocompetence, and greater willingness to explore new environments and utilise important resources.

Our work will progress from controlled experiments to commercial application, where we expect to find lasting effects of this early experience on adult behaviour and welfare.

The innovation in this project is the application of theories about secure-base attachment and adaptive development plasticity combined with strong industry input on how best to implement the principles of functional zones during rearing in a sustainable way under commercial conditions.