Keel bone damage in laying hens reared in different production systems in Serbia

Abstract

The European Union in 2012 banned conventional battery cages for the welfare reasons. However, transition to new housing systems uncovered some new problems, such as keel bone damage (KBD), which also could endanger welfare of laying hens. Although KBD is a research topic which attracts a growing attention in the EU, in Serbia it is still rather unknown phenomenon, even among the scientific and professional community. This research is the first attempt to determine the prevalence of KBD in laying hens in housing systems currently existing in Serbia. The results of conducted monitoring show presence of KBD on all observed farms, except the organic one. The occurrence of KBD was at an acceptable level (from the standpoint of hen welfare) in the free-range system, enriched cages without equipment and conventional battery cages (4%, 3% and 1%, respectively), while in the fully equipped enriched cages it was high (39%). One could assume that this high prevalence of KBD in this system is a consequence of a long roosting on a metal perches.

Evropska unija je, zbog obezbeđenja dobrobiti živine, 2012. godine zabranila držanje nosilja u baterijskim kavezima. Međutim, prelazak na nove sisteme držanja doveo je i do nekih novih problema, kakav je oštećenje grudne kosti (OGK), koje takođe može da ugrozi dobrobit živine. Iako je oštećenje grudne kosti istraživačka tema koja u EU privlači sve veću pažnju, u Srbiji je ovo još uvek relativno nepoznat pojam, čak i u naučnim i stručnim krugovima. Ovo istraživanje predstavlja prvi pokušaj da se u Srbiji utvrdi prisustvo oštećenje grudne kosti kod kokošaka nosilja gajenih u različitim sistemima. Dobijeni rezultati pokazuju da je oštećenje grudne kosti prisutno u svim ispitivanim sistemima držanja, osim u organskom. Relativno nizak procenat oštećenja grudne kosti detektovan je kod kokošaka na ispustu, kokošaka u obogaćenim kavezima bez opreme i u konvencionalnim kavezima (4,3 i 1% respektivno). Najveći procenat oštećenja grudne kosti detektovan je kod kokošaka u obogaćenim kavezima sa kompletnom opremom (39%). Može se pretpostaviti da je ovako visok procenat oštećenja grudne kosti u ovom sistemu držanja posledica dugog sedenja kokošaka na metalnim sedalima.