Abstract

The effect of early exposure of pullets to natural light may have an effect on the later preference for light type and on the behaviour of birds after being transferred to laying facilities. Our aim was to study the light-type preference of 14-week pullets reared in either incandescent or natural light. From day-old, a total of 84 LSL chicks were subjected to two light treatments with six groups of seven birds each: 8 h incandescent light + 16 h darkness (18), and 8 It natural light + 16 h darkness (N8). At the age of 14 weeks, the birds' light-type preference was tested. Behaviour was recorded at the group level and analysed by a linear mixed model. Predicted mean proportion of birds that chose natural light was 0.36 in N8 and 0.13 in 18 groups. 18 groups showed a preference for incandescent light, in contrast to N8. These results support the notion that pullets for organic egg production shall be reared with access to natural light. (C) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Keywords

canine; dog behaviour; rehabilitation; inter-dog aggression; shelter dogs

Published in

Applied Animal Behaviour Science
2008, Volume: 112, number: 3-4, pages: 395-399
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

SLU Authors

• Hultgren, Jan

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Gunnarsson, Stefan

  • Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

UKÄ Subject classification

Animal and Dairy Science
Veterinary Science


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applanim.2007.09.004

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/18499