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. 2019 May 2;9(5):211.
doi: 10.3390/ani9050211.

The Human-Animal Relationship in Australian Caged Laying Hens

Lauren E Edwards  1 , Grahame J Coleman  2 , Kym L Butler  3   4 , Paul H Hemsworth  5
Affiliations

The Human-Animal Relationship in Australian Caged Laying Hens

Lauren E Edwards et al. Animals (Basel). .

Abstract

Studies on farm animals have shown relationships between stockperson attitudes and behaviour and farm animal fear, stress and productivity. This study investigated how the avoidance behaviour of Australian commercial caged laying hens may be related to stockperson behaviour, albumen corticosterone, and the number of weeks producing within 5% of peak egg production. Nineteen laying houses were assessed over 3 days. Fear of humans in hens, based on their avoidance response to an unfamiliar human, was assessed using two behavioural tests. Albumen corticosterone concentrations were measured from egg samples collected immediately prior to behavioural testing. Stockperson attitudes were assessed using a questionnaire and stockperson behaviour was observed over 2 days. Productivity records for each laying house were also obtained. The duration of peak production was negatively related to both noise made by the stockperson and hen avoidance. No relationship between stockperson behaviour or attitudes and hen avoidance was found, but stockpeople with negative attitudes made more noise. In conclusion, this study could not confirm a relationship between stockperson behaviour and hen avoidance behaviour for Australian caged laying hens. However, this study did confirm a relationship between hen avoidance behaviour, albumen corticosterone concentration, and the duration of peak egg production.

Keywords: albumen corticosterone; egg farm; fear; human-animal relationship; laying hen; stockpeople attitudes; stockperson behaviour; welfare.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Movement of the researcher during the four stages of the Approaching Human Test. 5s FS = 5-second familiarization stage prior to the test commencing.
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Relationship between weeks at 5% of peak egg production and all stockperson noise, after adjusting for average withdrawal distance (AvWD), for the two cage width groupings. The noise responses, for each grouping, are presented at the between shed mean of average withdrawal distance, for sheds in that grouping. (b) Relationship between weeks at 5% of peak egg production and AvWD, after adjusting for the square root of all stockperson noise, for the two cage width groupings. The AvWD responses, for each grouping, are presented at the between shed mean for all stockperson noise, for sheds in that grouping. Error bars are 95% confidence intervals using the asymptotic normal approximation.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Relationship between albumen corticosterone concentration and the average withdrawal distance in the Stroll Test. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Relationship between average withdrawal distance in the Stroll Test and cage height. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) Relationship between main stockperson noise and all stockperson entries per cage, after adjusting for stockperson positive attitude score and stockperson insensitivity attitude score. (b) Relationship between main stockperson noise and main stockperson positive attitude score, after adjusting for square root of all stockperson entries per cage and stockperson insensitivity attitude score. (c) Relationship between main stockperson noise and main stockperson insensitivity attitude score, after adjusting for square root of all stockperson entries per cage and stockperson positive attitude score. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.
Figure 5
Figure 5
(a) Relationship between main stockperson noise and all stockperson entries per cage, after adjusting for stockperson positive attitude score and stockperson insensitivity attitude score. (b) Relationship between main stockperson noise and main stockperson positive attitude score, after adjusting for square root of all stockperson entries per cage and stockperson insensitivity attitude score. (c) Relationship between main stockperson noise and main stockperson insensitivity attitude score, after adjusting for square root of all stockperson entries per cage and stockperson positive attitude score. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals.
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References

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