Progress 02/01/11 to 01/31/14
Outputs
Target Audience: Target audiences include fellow scientists, current and future veterinarians, consumers, egg producers, animal welfare advocates, trade association executives, and food purchasers of grocery store chains, restaurants, and university food services. Changes/Problems:
Nothing Reported
What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Training activities: Individuals who were mentored and received trainingat Purdue University on the project include S. A. Enneking, research associate, graduate students F. F. Yan (masters thesis was part of this project), S. Jiang,post-doctorate student, R. Dennis, and veterinary student K. Moss. There were also 10 undergraduates (e.g., B. K. Haley) who participated in the research. Individuals at Illinois State University who participated in the molecular research included: Maurice Dale, Erin Mortimer, Scott Halkyard, Arthur Solomon, Annika Garcia, Jennifer Achs, Devin Cornelius and Dr Glen Borchert (post doctoral fellow). Professional activities. With the exception of undergraduates, all individuals from Purdue Universitylisted above attended scientific meetings along with their mentors (Poultry Science Association meetings). Please see the list of abstracts for paper presentations. For Illinois State University, the following students received these awards for their professional activities: 2013 Erin Mortimer (BA, 2013) Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Award in Biological Sciences, Illinois State University 2014 Maurice Dale (MS student, 2014, in preparation for defense). Illinois State University.Recipient of the 2013 Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology’s (FASEB) Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Award. The FASEB MARC Program is funded by two grants from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institutes of Health. [T36-GM08059 and T36-GM08637]. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Dr. Hester made a presentation on poultry welfare, which included a discussion on enriched cages, at the United States Animal Health Association (USAHA) in Buffalo, NY on October 5, 2011. Presentations by Dr. Hester on enriched cages have been given to food retailers and purchasers at United Egg Producers Animal Welfare Conferences on May 30-31, 2012 in Braselton, GA; July 25, 2012 in New York City, NY; and October 16-17, 2012 in Minneapolis, MN. Dr. Hester discussed enriched cages with veterinary students at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL on March 23, 2012. Dr. Hester was featured in an educational video on enriched cages at (http://farmpolicy.com/2012/10/16/video-enriched-colony-housing-units-for-egg-laying-hens/). Results have been disseminated through presentations at scientific meetings (World’s Poultry Congress and the Poultry Science Association) and to the United Egg Producers (UEP) Scientific Committee on Animal Welfare that included the President of UEP (Gene Gregory), and the chair of the egg producer’s welfare committee (Mark Oldenkamp). In addition, regular research updates have been exchanged with Terry Pollard of Big Dutchman. Poster (2012 and 2013) and oral (2013) presentations were given by Dr. Hester at the annual Animal Health & Animal Well-Being Project Director Workshops to fellow scientists who were also AFRI awardees. Dr. Hester reported on current welfare research with laying hens, including this project, at the International Symposium on Health Environment and Animal Welfare in Chongqing, China on October 19-21, 2013. The international audience included scientists and students from the Americas, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, and Asia. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
Impact A major skeletal problem of conventionally caged hens is increased susceptibility to osteoporosis that contributes to about 20 to 35% of all mortalities during the egg production cycle. Osteoporosis is characterized by a progressive decrease in mineralized structural bone that can lead to fractures. Because fractures cause pain in chickens, osteoporosis is a huge welfare issue. Besides genetics, another cause of osteoporosis is lack of exercise. Housing hens in cages offers many health and welfare benefits such as reduced cannibalism and improved livability when compared to non-cage systems. However, the major disadvantage of cages is the lack of enrichments to meet the behavioral needs of hens. Whereas considerable attention has been given to enriching laying cages, little research has been conducted on providing caged pullets with furnishments, in particular perches. In humans, childhood exercise has a greater influence on adult skeletal health than any intervention plan in adulthood. Therefore, it is reasonable to assume that chickens may also need early exposure to mechanical loading to avoid fractures. Providing opportunities to perch early in life may contribute to improved long-term skeletal health in aging hens. Our results showed that pullets began using perches as early as 6 wk of age, but the proportion of pullets using the perch was low at this age. After 6 wk of age, a steady increase in pullet perch use occurred with heavy usage of perches during the latter half of the pullet phase to 17 wk of age. Adult hens continued heavy use of perches during the egg laying phase. Many welfare traits were improved as a result of perch access; for example, increased muscle deposition during the pullet phase as well as less accumulation of abdominal fat and greater bone mineralization at 71 wk of age. The movement on and off the perch induced mechanical loading and the increased exercise contributed to improvements in these musculoskeletal traits. A serious welfare issue, which has also been reported for hens in non-cage systems, was the high incidence of keel bone fractures (mostly old breaks) in cages with (92%) and without perches (83%). The increase in bone mineralization of the keel bone as a result of perch access during the pullet and laying phases was not great enough to prevent a higher incidence of keel bone fractures. The long-term goal was to determine the effects and mechanisms of action of mechanical loading on indicators of well-being of egg laying strains of chickens. The White Leghorn female chicken is a powerful osteoporotic model organism for studying the parathyroid hormone (PTH) regulation of bone growth and turnover. The PTH differentially activates the PTH/PTH-like hormone (PTHLH) type-1 receptor (PTH1R) on osteoblasts and osteoclasts, the cell types responsible for bone formation and absorption, respectively. The cause of osteoporosis is that a higher number of osteoclasts increase bone degradation at the expense of decreasing bone strength. All vertebrates, except mammals, express a PTH1R and PTH3R (PTH/PTHLH type-3 receptor); mammals including humans only have a PTH1R. Thus, the advantage of using chickens as a model is that it is possible to tease apart the molecular functions of the PTH1R and PTH3R which, in humans, are combined into the single PTH1R. To understand the molecular aspects of bone turnover in pullets, we analyzed the levels of bone-specific genes (RNA transcripts) between pullets housed with and without perches. We analyzed two weight-bearing bones (tibia and femur) and a non-weight bearing bone (phalange carpometacarpal). Multiple genes were analyzed for each bone: collagen (Col2a1 used as a control for bone), actin and/or glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH, housekeeping controls), Sox9 (involved in bone development), PTHLH (paracrine hormone activator of PTH receptors), PTH1R and PTH3R (receptors for PTH and PTHLH), RANK/RANKL (bone resorption) and osteoprotegerin (OPG). Evaluation of pullet bones showed expression of PTH1R to a greater degree than PTH3R. The PTH3R showed no difference in expression due to perch treatment, type of bone, ages, or interactions. PTH1R showed greater expression in the phalange than the femur or tibia. These results confirm that pullets are using PTH1R, not PTH3R, for bone turnover and degradation. There was no difference in expression of PTHrP and Sox9 due to perch treatment, type of bone, age, or interactions. When comparing the difference in RANK and RANKL expression, the effect of bone approached significance with the phalange expressing more RANKL than RANK relative to other bones. Unexpectedly, RANK and PTH1R showed greater expression in the phalange compared to the tibia and femur. Supporting objective 1) determining if perch availability during all or part of the life cycle of White Leghorns affects chicken well-being Behavioral observations indicated that caged pullets began using perches at 6 wk of age (< 0.1%) with 35% of the pullets using the front perch for night time perching by 14 wk of age. Night–time use of adult perches in laying cages averaged 89% with equal use of front (44.6%) and back (44.5%) perches. Day-time perch use during the egg laying phase averaged 14.7% with the rear perch (11.6%) preferred over the front perch (3.1%). Surprisingly, hens given early access to perches as pullets did not result in greater use of the adult perch. Implications are that cage rearing of pullets does not require perches to encourage adult perching in laying cages. The mechanical loading achieved through perching had beneficial effects on pullet health by stimulating leg muscle deposition and increasing the bone mineral content of certain bones. The perches did not interfere with eating and drinking behaviors nor was there any evidence of stress due to the perch treatment. Enriching conventional cages with perches during the entire life cycle resulted in similar egg production traits to controls. The welfare benefits to laying hens because of perch use during the egg laying phase included greater bone mineral density, less abdominal fat accumulation, improved back feather scores, and shorter nails. Perches in laying cages caused a higher incidence of dirty eggs and broken back claw, poorer breast and tail feather scores, as well as more keel bone fractures and keel bone deviations because of the pressure on the keel during perching. Supporting objective 2) determine the economic impact of adding perches to conventional cages. Material cost for perches is estimated at $4.92/meter ($1.50/foot). Assuming a labor cost of $12/h and 10 to 15 minutes to install, the estimated labor cost of the installation of metal perches to pullet cages is $2 to $3/cage. Egg producers are no longer purchasing conventional cages. Instead, all new purchases of cage equipment are enriched cages which come equipped with perches, nest, nail trimmers and perhaps scratch pad. So the perch is included with the purchase of enriched cages for adult laying hens. Supporting objective 3) determine when the majority of bone fractures occur in the life cycle of chickens. Skeletal health up to 12 wk of age was excellent during the pullet phase with no signs of any bone fractures or keel bone deformities. Throughout the life cycle, there was a very low incidence of long bones fracturing. In contrast, when keels were examined in 71 wk old White Leghorns, deformities and fractures were extraordinarily high. The incidence of keel fractures was greater than 80%, and the majority of the fractures were old. Keel fractures increased and keel scores were worse in 71-wk-old hens because of the presence of perches compared with no perch during the egg laying phase.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Hester, P. Y., S. A. Enneking, K. Y. Jefferson-Moore, M. E. Einstein, H. W. Cheng, and D. A. Rubin. 2013. The effect of perches in cages during pullet rearing and egg laying on hen performance, foot health, and plumage. Poultry Sci. 92:310-320.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Hester, P. Y., S. A. Enneking, B. K. Haley, M. E. Einstein, H. W. Cheng, and D. A. Rubin. 2013. The effect of perch availability during pullet rearing and egg laying on musculoskeletal health of caged White Leghorn hens. Poultry Sci. 92:1972-1980.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Jiang, S., H. W. Cheng, P. Y. Hester, and J.-F. Hou. 2013. Development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for detection of chicken osteocalcin and its use in evaluation of perch effects on bone remodeling in caged White Leghorns. Poultry Sci. 92:1951-1961.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Yan, F. F., P. Y. Hester, S. A. Enneking, and H. W. Cheng. 2013. Effects of perch access and age on physiological measures of stress in caged White Leghorn pullets. Poultry Sci. 92: 2853-2859.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Hester, P. Y. 2014. The effect of perches installed in cages on laying hens. Worlds Poultry Sci. J. (in press).
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Yan, F. F., P. Y. Hester, and H. W. Cheng. 2014. The effect of perch access during pullet rearing and egg laying on physiological measures of stress in White Leghorns at seventy-one weeks of age. Poultry Sci. (in press).
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Jiang, S., P. Y. Hester, J. Y. Hu, F. F. Yan, R. Dennis, W. K. Fulwider, and H. W. Cheng. 2014. Effect of perch on hen's liver health. Poultry Sci. (in press).
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
P. Y. Hester, J. P. Garner, S. A. Enneking, H. W. Cheng, and M. E. Einstein. 2014. The effect of perch availability during pullet rearing and egg laying on the behavior of caged White Leghorn hens. Poult. Sci. (submitted).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Hester, P. Y. 2013. Egg industry animal welfare issues and research programs in the United States. International Symposium on Health Environment and Animal Welfare, Chongqing, China. Pages 8-19.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Yan, F. F., P. Y. Hester, S. A. Enneking, and H. W. Cheng. 2013. The effect of perch access during pullet rearing and egg laying on physiological parameters of caged White Leghorn hens. Poultry Sci. 92: (Suppl.1):92.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Hester, P. Y., S. A. Enneking, B. K. Haley, H. W. Cheng, M. E. Einstein, and D. A. Rubin. 2013. The effect of perch availability during pullet rearing and egg laying on musculoskeletal health of caged White Leghorn hens. Poultry Sci. 92: (Suppl.1):92.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Submitted
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Hester, P. Y., and S. A. Enneking. 2014 Relationship between keel mineralization and deformities of seventy-one week old White Leghorn hens. International Society for Applied Ethology (submitted).
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Yan, F. F. 2013. Effects of modifying cages with perches on neuroendocrine homeostasis of White Leghorn pullets. Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.
- Type:
Theses/Dissertations
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2014
Citation:
Dale, M. 2014. Quantitative analysis by qRT-PCR of bone turnover in hens with access to a perch. M.S. Thesis (In preparation for defense).
- Type:
Other
Status:
Awaiting Publication
Year Published:
2013
Citation:
Mortimer, E. 2013. Assessment of Bone-Expressed Transcripts in Hens by rQRT-PCR. B.A. Honors Thesis in Biology, Illinois State University
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2012
Citation:
Moss, K- M., S. A. Enneking, and P. Y. Hester. 2012. Effect of perches during pullet rearing on bone and muscle traits in White Leghorns. Poultry Sci. 91: (Suppl.1):245.
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Progress 02/01/12 to 01/31/13
Outputs
OUTPUTS: We demonstrated that mechanical loading achieved through perching have beneficial effects on pullet health by stimulating leg muscle deposition and increasing the bone mineral content of certain bones without causing a concomitant decrease in bone mineral density. Behavioral observations indicated that caged pullets began using perches at an early age. Enriching conventional cages with metal round perches during the entire life cycle resulted in similar egg production to controls. Benefits included fewer broken back claws because of prior experience with perches as pullets and improved back feather scores, more trimmed nails, and greater bone mineral density as a result of perch presence during egg laying. A disadvantage of perch availability during pullet rearing was poorer feed efficiency. Perch availability during the laying phase caused more dirty eggs and broken back claws, poorer breast and tail feather scores, and more keel bone fractures and keel bone deviations. Results have been disseminated through presentations at a scientific meeting (Poultry Science Association) and to the United Egg Producers (UEP) Scientific Committee on Animal Welfare that included the President of UEP (Gene Gregory), and the chair of the egg producer's welfare committee (Mark Oldenkamp). In addition, regular research updates have been exchanged with Terry Pollard of Big Dutchman. PARTICIPANTS: Collaborations have been established with D. A. Rubin of Illinois State University, K. Y. Jefferson-Moore of N. C. A&T State University, H. W. Cheng of USDA-Agricultural Research Service, Livestock Behavior Research Unit located at Purdue University, J. P. Garner of Stanford University, and P. Wakenell of the College of Veterinary Medicine of Purdue University. Additional individuals working on the project include S. A. Enneking, Research Associate, graduate students F. Yan and S. Jiang and veterinary student K. Moss. There were also 10 undergraduates who have participated in the research. Partner organizations include the Midwest Poultry Consortium who provided the funding to gather preliminary data for this project, Big Dutchman who donated the perches used in the study, and Hy-Line who donated the chickens. Contacts include Terry Pollard, Vice President of Sales for Big Dutchman in North America and Bill Snow, Engineer for Big Dutchman, Gene Gregory, President and Chief Executive Officer of the United Egg Producers, Mark Oldenkamp, Vice President of the Northwest Operations, Valley Fresh Foods, Inc. and Chair of the United Egg Producer's Animal Welfare Committee and Paul Weitzel of Hy-Line North America. TARGET AUDIENCES: Target audiences include fellow scientists, current and future veterinarians, consumers, egg producers, animal welfare advocates, and food purchasers of grocery store chains, restaurants, and university food services. Dr. Hester made a presentation on poultry welfare, which included a discussion on enriched cages, at the United States Animal Health Association (USAHA) in Buffalo, NY on October 5, 2011. The audience included mainly veterinarians and scientists, but also representatives from trade associations. Presentations by Dr. Hester on enriched cages have been given to food retailers and purchasers at United Egg Producers Animal Welfare Conferences on May 30-31, 2012 in Braselton, GA; July 25, 2012 in New York City, NY; and October 16-17, 2012 in Minneapolis, MN. Dr. Hester discussed enriched cages with veterinary students at the College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL on March 23, 2012. Dr. Hester was featured in an educational video on enriched cages at (http://farmpolicy.com/2012/10/16/video-enriched-colony-housing-units -for-egg-laying-hens/). PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Though perches allow chickens to express their natural perching instinct and improve other welfare traits, it was not without causing welfare problems. The most serious welfare issue was the high incidence of keel bone fractures (mostly old breaks) in cages with (92%) and without perches (83%) as broken bones induce pain. The increase in bone mineralization of the keel bone as a result of perch access during the pullet and laying phases was not great enough to prevent a higher incidence of keel bone fractures. Re-design of the perch to minimize keel fracture and deviation and to improve breast feather cover is needed. Interaction among university scientists have facilitated the support and training of post-doctorates, graduate and veterinary students and allowed for many undergraduate students to gain research experience.
Publications
- Enneking, S. A., P. S. Wakenell, J. P. Garner, and P. Y. Hester. 2012. Mortality and behavior of caged White Leghorn pullets with access to perches. CD Paper in Proc. Worlds Poultry Congress, Salvador, Brazil. Worlds Poult. Sci. J. Suppl 1:134-136.
- Enneking, S. A., H. W. Cheng, K. Y. Jefferson-Moore, M. E. Einstein, D. A. Rubin, and P. Y. Hester. 2012. Early access to perches in caged White Leghorn pullets. Poult. Sci. 91:2114-2120.
- Yan, F. F., P. Y. Hester, S. A. Enneking and H. W. Cheng. 2012. Effects of modifying cages with perches on neuroendocrine homeostasis of White Leghorn pullets. Poultry Sci. 91: (Suppl.1):92-93.
- Hester, P. Y., S. A. Enneking, M. E. Einstein, and J. P. Garner. 2012. The effect of age on the behavior of caged White Leghorn pullets. Poultry Sci. 91: (Suppl.1):93.
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Progress 02/01/11 to 01/31/12
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The objective was to determine the effect of mechanical loading on pullet health, behavior, bone mineralization, and muscle deposition, in caged White Leghorns given access to perches. From 0 to 17 wk of age, half of the birds were placed in cages with 2 round metal perches, while the other half did not have perches (controls). Mineralization and size traits were determined in several bones using dual energy x-ray absorptiometry. Breast and left leg (drum and thigh) muscle weights were determined. A sample of pullets from each cage was evaluated for foot health, BW, right adrenal weight, and packed cell volume at approximately 3, 6, and 12 wk of age. Behavior was recorded at 10 different ages up to 16 wk of age. Results have been disseminated through presentations at scientific meetings (Poultry Science Association and the International Poultry Scientific Forum), and to the United Egg Producers (UEP) Scientific Committee on Animal Welfare that included the President of UEP (Gene Gregory), and the chair of the egg producers welfare committee (Mark Oldenkamp). In addition, regular research updates have been exchanged with Terry Pollard of Big Dutchman. PARTICIPANTS: P. Y. Hester, H. W. Cheng, J. P. Garner, P. S. Wakenell, D. A. Rubin, K. Y. Jefferson-Moore, S. A. Enneking, K - M. Moss, and F. Yan TARGET AUDIENCES: Egg producers, cage manufacturers, welfare organizations, fellow scientists PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
We demonstrated that mechanical loading achieved through perching have beneficial effects on pullet health by stimulating leg muscle deposition and increasing the bone mineral content of certain bones without causing a concomitant decrease in bone mineral density. Interaction among university scientists have facilitated the support and training of post-doctorates, graduate and veterinary students and allowed for many undergraduate students to gain research experience. Mortality from hatch to 3 wk of age increased in cages with perches as compared to controls (P < 0.0001) and was due to omphalitis and starve-outs. Little mortality occurred after 3 wk of age. Behavioral analysis showed that the high mortality of chicks with access to perches from 0 to 3 wk of age was not due to lack of drinking or eating. During the laying phase, 8 control hens have died and there has been no hen mortality in the cages with perches. Behavioral observations indicated that pullets began using perches as early as 2 wk of age. Chicks using the front perch of the cage at night increased from 6 (< 0.1%) to 12 wk (31%) of age after which no further increases were noted to 16 wk of age (P < 0.0001). Access to perches during the pullet phase did not affect breast muscle weight, % breast muscle, % leg muscle, bone mineral density, bone length, bone width, adrenal weight, packed cell volume, and hyperkeratosis of the foot-pad and toes. There were no differences in BW, bone mineral content, and leg muscle weight at 3 and 6 wk of age. However, at 12 wk of age, the BW (P = 0.025), the bone mineral content of the tibia, sternum, and humerus (P = 0.015) and the left leg muscle weight (P = 0.006) increased in pullets with access to perches as compared to controls. Perches used in the current study have been field-tested by Big Dutchman, mainly being used by the European egg industry in aviary systems. Material cost for perches is estimated at $4.92/meter ($1.50/foot). Assuming a labor cost of $12/h and 10 to 15 minutes to install, the estimated labor cost of the installation of metal perches to pullet cages is $2 to $3/cage. (K. Krogman and T. Pollard , Big Dutchman, Holland, MI, personal communication).
Publications
- Enneking, S. A., H. W. Cheng, J. P. Garner, P. S. Wakenell, D. A. Rubin, K. Y. Jefferson-Moore, and P. Y. Hester. 2011. The effect of perches installed in conventional cages on White Leghorn pullets. Poultry Sci. 90: (E-suppl.1):45.
- Moss, K- M., S. A. Enneking, and P. Y. Hester. 2012. Effect of perches during pullet rearing on bone and muscle traits in White Leghorns. Poultry Sci, 91: (E-suppl.1): in press.
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