scubababe Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 OK...in my simple world of all things pink & sparkly I have images of barn hens running around, rolling in the hays and generally having a great time whilst their sisters in the enriched cages are 'caged' although not as cramped under the old system. Am I being to naive in my thinking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubababe Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 OK...trundled off and did some googling..... My roses are not soo tinted now Barn hens: Your hens will have been kept in a large barn or unit. They will have a nesting area and solid or slated floors. There can be thousands of hens cramped in together. They haven't seen natural light and are kept mostly in darkness to keep them calm and to stop them fighting. These barns can become extremely warm, and those who are picked on have no where to hide. Enriched cage: Concerns regarding the welfare of laying hens raised in battery cages have led to the development of enriched cages that allow hens to perform natural behaviors including nesting, roosting, and scratching. This study was conducted to compare indices of production and welfare in birds housed in 2 different caging systems. Shaver White hens were housed from 21 to 61 wk in either conventional battery cages (n = 500; 10 cages; 5 hens/cage; floor space = 561.9 cm2/hen) or enriched cages (n = 480; 2 cages; 24 hens/cage; floor space = 642.6 cm2/hen) and were replicated 10 times. Enriched cages provided hens with a curtained nesting area, scratch pad, and perches. Production parameters and egg quality measures were recorded throughout the experiment. Plumage condition was evaluated at 37 and 61 wk. Bone quality traits and immunological response parameters were measured at 61 wk, and 59 and 61 wk, respectively. Hen-day egg production, feed consumption, egg weight, and percentage of cumulative mortality of laying hens were not affected by the cage designs. Specific gravity and the percentage of cracked and soft-shelled eggs were also similar between the 2 housing systems. The incidence of dirty eggs was, however, significantly higher (P < 0.0001) in enriched cages than in conventional cages. Feather scores were similar between birds except for the wing region, which was higher (P < 0.05) for hens housed in conventional cages. Bone quality measures tended to be higher for hens housed in enriched cages compared with hens in conventional cages. However, the increase was significant only for bone mineral density. Immunological response parameters did not reveal statistically significant differences. Overall, laying performance, exterior egg quality measures, plumage condition, and immunological response parameters appear to be similar for hens housed in the 2 cage systems tested. Enrichment of laying hen cages resulted in better bone quality, which could have resulted from increased activity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
legend21 Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 we rescued 6 barn chickens, we rescued 6 ex batts 2 years before that and the barn chickens were in a worse state than the ex batts, there was about 700 in a very small barn and because the farmer kept the top half of the barn door open this counted as a kind of free range barn, they smelled awful and had very few feathers our exbatts could not walk when we got them but the barn girls were much more aggressive and fast on their feet, that are all in together now and lovely girls, well that was my experience of barn chickens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
