Lena Skånberg, who defended her doctoral thesis in Uppsala on December 9th 2022, has studied how the early stages of life for a chick affect the welfare of the adult laying hen. A simple and predictable early environment might not be the best way to prepare the young birds for a change to a more complex production environment. Skånberg hypothesized that introducing elements of choice and change early on would promote greater adaptability in the young hen, and thus a better welfare.
In her experiments, Skånberg used variations of two relevant environmental resources; litter and perches, to show that young laying hens with regular changes of litter and perch type were less fearful when placed in a novel environment. Young laying hens given the option to choose between different litter and perch types during rearing, showed increased exploration in a novel environment, were better able to locate a hidden feed reward and showed improved stress coping and immunocompetence. Both short- and long-term effects were seen in the studies. In particular, providing greater possibilities for environmental choice could be a biologically relevant approach for a rearing environment that goes beyond simply providing basic resources, enhancing laying hen adaptability and welfare.
Read the thesis here: Lena Skånberg - Preparing for life: Effects of environmental choice and change during rearing on adaptability in laying hens
Opponent:
Professor Bas Rodenburg (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)
Examination board:
Senior Lecturer Vicky Sandilands (Scotland´s Rural College, Great Britain), Docent Johan Lind (Stockholm University), Docent Rebecca Meagher (Dalhousie University, Canada), Reserve: Docent Albin Gräns (SLU)
Supervisor:
Professor Linda Keeling (SLU)
Assistant supervisors:
Professor Ruth Newberry (Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway), Professor Inma Estevez (IKERBASQUE Basque Foundation for Science, Spain), Assistant Professor Nicolas Nazar (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina)
