4.1- Avoid feather pecking in non-beak-trimmed hens

Feather pecking, which is the pecking and pulling of feathers of other birds, is a major welfare issue in laying hens. It has multiple underlying causes, among which are fearfulness, and lack of foraging opportunities. To prevent damage caused by feather pecking, it has long been standard practice to remove the sharp tip of the beaks of laying hens (beak trimming). This is known to be a painful procedure with both short-term and long-term negative consequences for welfare. Therefore, a growing number of EU countries has banned this practice due to ethical concerns. Moreover, beak trimming is not allowed in organic production. However, feather pecking still occurs on a large scale in all production systems, and therefore there is a need for alternative management strategies to prevent feather pecking in non-beak-trimmed laying hens. In the PPILOW project, we investigated the effects of green light during incubation and insect larvae provisioning as strategies to avoid problematic behaviors like feather pecking, and promote positive behaviors like foraging and free-range use.