PPILOW

Poultry and Pig Low-input and Organic production systems' Welfare
PPILOW

PhD theses in PPILOW project

One great success of the PPILOW project is the defence of several PhD theses, with students working on innovative practices for improving the welfare of poultry and pigs in low-input outdoor and organic farms. You will find below short summaries of the theses already achieved or planned in PPILOW.

  1. Malene Højmark (AU, Denmark)
    Title thesis: “FEEDING STRATEGY TO SUPPORT HEALTH IN ORGANIC LAYING HENS – The effect of fermented rapeseed meal with seaweed on Ascaridia galli in organic laying hens (Gallus gallus domesticus)”.
    Discussion date: June 2021
    Summary: The thesis investigates whether fermented rapeseed meal with seaweed influenced performance, short chain fatty acids and immunoprofiles of layers infected with Ascaridia galli. Hens received either a feed supplemented with fermented rapeseed meal with seaweed (6%) or a non-supplemented control feed and were infected with Ascaridia galli at 20 weeks of age by two different infections methods involving inoculation with 764 embryonated Ascaridia galli eggs orally or natural exposure to contaminated litter.
  2. Geng Pan (AU, Denmark)
    Title thesis: “Immunomodulatory effects of garlic and aronia berry and their antiparasitic potential against ascaridia galli in chickens”.
    Discussion date: June 2022
    Summary: Aronia berry and garlic are known for their immunomodulatory effects in mammals. This thesis study both the immunomodulatory and the antiparasitic effects on chickens infected with the roundworm Ascaridia galli (A. galli). These effects were studied in vitro with a follow-up study of the antiparasitic effect in vivo where hens were fed with garlic or aronia berry powder and experimentally infected with A. galli.
  3. Claire Bonnefous (INRAE, France).
    Title thesis: “Ranging behaviour of broilers: from behaviour, performance, physiological and metabolic indicators to the identification of potential early predictors”.
    Discussion date: PhD thesis of the University of Tours (14th December 2023, confidential).
    Summary: Organic broilers have access to an outdoor range from about five weeks of age. However, its use widely varies due to external factors and to animal’s own characteristics. Broilers social motivation, boldness, foraging and locomotor influence range use behaviour, with consequences on animal welfare, metabolism, performances and meat quality. In her PhD thesis, Claire Bonnefous provided new information on the understanding of range use behaviour, its explanatory factors and consequences to identify potential predictors to be included in genetic selection patterns. Her publicly available results can be found here: 1) Animal; 2) Research Square; 3) Applied Animal Behaviour Science.
  4. Yegor Kozhemyakin CNRS, France).
    Title thesis: “Développemnet d’instrumentations hyperfréquences pour l’analyse in et ex vivo d’œufs de poule”.
    Discussion date: PhD thesis of the University of Toulouse (21st December 2023, confidential).
    Summary: This thesis focused on the study of the possibility of determining the sex of a fertilized chicken egg embryo in the early stages of incubation (up to the 10th day of incubation) using microwave dielectric spectroscopy. Due to its non-invasiveness and rapid measurement characteristics, microwave dielectric spectroscopy constitutes indeed an interesting analysis method for this application.
  5. Baies Horia Mihai (USAMV, Romania).
    Title thesis: “Improving the welfare of pigs raised in low-input production systems, by controlling digestive parasites, with aromatic and medicinal plants”.
    Discussion date: 10th May 2024
    Summary: PhD thesis comprises 6 original studies focused on assessing, both in vitro and in vivo, the antiparasitic potential of the following medicinal plants Allium sativum (garlic), Artemisia absinthium (wormwood), Cucurbita pepo (pumpkin), Coriandrum sativum (coriander), Calendula officinalis (marigold), and Satureja hortensis (summer savory), on naturally occurring gastrointestinal parasites of swine. This research was conducted in two free-range (low-input) farms located in Transylvania, Romania and is integrated in WP6 of the PPILOW project.
  6. Maj Dahl Ørndrup (AU, Denmark)
    Title thesis: “Use of Alternative Methods to Control Helminths in Organic Layers – The effect of propionic acid, coriander seed oil and pumpkin seed oil on Ascaridia galli in organic laying hens (Gallus gallus domesticus)”.
    Discussion date: June 2024
    Summary: This thesis investigates how helminth burden and immunocompetence in organic layers are affected by grains treated with propionic acid or fed with oils from coriander seeds and pumpkin seeds as feed additives. Hens, naturally infected with A. galli, were fed with either a control diet, a diet with propionic acid treated grains or a diet with pumpkin seed oil and essential coriander seed oil.
  7. Laura Rusu(USAMV, Romania).
    Title thesis: “Alternative preventive phytotherapies in conditioning the portage microbiome and immune response in swine”.
    Discussion date: September 2024
    Summary: The thesis comprises 3 original studies focused on assessing, both in vitro and in vivo, the antibacterial effect on naturally occurring bacteria and the immune stimulating potential in pigs raised on low input farms of Hippophae rhamnoides (sea buckthorn), Allium sativum (garlic), Artemisia absinthium (wormwood), Cucurbita pepo (pumpkin), Coriandrum sativum (coriander), Calendula officinalis (marigold), and Satureja hortensis (summer savory). The researches were conducted in vitro, in the USAMV laboratories and in two locations on low-input farms from Transylvania, Romania and was integrated in WP6 of the PPILOW project.
  8. Saskia Kliphuis(UU, The Netherlands).
    Title thesis: “Light and Larvae for Little Layers: Early-life strategies to improve welfare of laying hens on low-input and organic farms”.
    Discussion date: planned for November/December 2024
    Summary: The thesis describes how welfare of laying hens could be improved, especially through early-life conditions. By adapting the incubation and rearing environment to the biological needs of chickens, they may develop into more resilient birds that are less fearful, develop less problematic behavior like severe feather pecking, and more positive behaviors, like foraging.
  9. Evelien Graat (ILVO, Belgium).
    Title thesis: “Improving the welfare of organic and free-range pigs and broiler chickens”.
    Discussion date: planned for January 2025
    Summary:The thesis will cover the use of the PIGLOW app for welfare self-assessments by pig farmers, and the effect of thermal manipulation during incubation on the resilience of slow growing broiler chickens.
  10. Helen Pluschke (Thuenen, Germany).
    Title thesis: “Dual-purpose poultry in organic farming”.
    Discussion date: planned in 2025
    Summary:The objective of the thesis is to provide an overview of the current breeding progress of dual-purpose chicken by evaluating three different genotypes, with a particular focus on performance, welfare and behavioural traits, as well as product quality. On the base of an analysis, that considers both female and male as unit, optimization potentials will be highlighted in rearing organic dual-purpose chicken.