‘Rearers unfairly blamed over pecking’
Picture: Are floor eggs the result of more docile birds?
Pullet rearers are being unfairly blamed for pecking problems on laying farms. That’s the view of Steve Carlyle, one of the leading figures in pullet rearing in Britain.
Mr Carlyle, managing director of Country Fresh Pullets, has spoken out in response to mounting claims that many aspects of the pecking menace can be traced back to rearing farms. The nationwide series of Defra workshops on pecking last year highlighted the link and the Government’s new official guidance on management of feather pecking and cannibalism again underscores the importance of rearing.
But in an interview with the Ranger Mr Carlyle said: “Any pullet rearer would agree that the rearing period is a very important part of the birds’ life, however, I feel on many occasions that pullet rearers get the blame unfairly for problems that manifest themselves later in lay. If a flock starts pecking post 45 weeks of age can this be the fault of the rearer?”
He insisted that pecking is not a common problem in the rearing phase. “In fact I would go further,” said the man who runs the largest independent rearing operation in the country, “it is very rarely seen during rear and as I have said previously it would not cause the rearer any problem if the birds were not beak trimmed at all but I do accept this would cause horrendous problems in some instances during the laying period.”
Defra says the production of the right pullet is vital in minimising the pecking risk and at the top of its list of factors that will decrease pecking, it puts matching the housing conditions in rear to those in the laying house.
“On the question of matching rearing houses to laying units,” said Mr Carlyle, “in a utopian world this would be ideal. Indeed if a laying customer had three identical laying houses it would be very simple to programme a single rearing site to match these requirements exactly, which we do wherever possible. However, laying customers very seldom are in this position and hence pullet rearers have to do their best to match their availability to customers’ requirements.
“We do try to match feeding and drinking systems to the laying site pullets are destined for but as you can imagine in a single 15,000 rearing house there is usually more than one customer which means there is diversification of what is required.
“We have now customised many units to have both nipples and bell drinkers to provide water, along with chains and pans to provide feed. We continue to strive to match our customer requirements as best we can.
“However, if standardisation of equipment across the laying sector could be achieved then rearers could mirror this very simply.”
So what does a top rearer believe are the key pecking triggers? “It would be very difficult to give a clear, concise answer,” said Mr Carlyle, “and invariably the trigger factors are not clear and in many cases unknown or cannot be agreed upon. They vary from a wide ranging stress factor which can be applied to anything that stresses a flock like an interruption of water, feed, lights or low flying aircraft.”
Defra also talks of the importance of producing pullets with a “robust” temperament and says rearers should accustom birds to loud noises as well as exposing them to extended flock walking to reduce bird fearfulness. But Steve Carlyle thinks what the producer wants is changing.
“For many years breeders have been put under pressure to produce a docile bird to meet the requirements of free range producers,” says Mr Carlyle. “Now there seems to be a move away from docility as the question of floor eggs has become a criticism of a docile flock.
We believe clearly that pullets should be exposed to as many noises and situations as possible so that when they arrive on the laying farm they are robust enough to with-stand these rigours.”
But even with the most careful attention to detail by rearers individual flocks can still turn out to be unpredictable.
“Unfortunately we are dealing with livestock and to date we have not trained birds to be able to talk to explain why individual flocks vary,” Mr Carlyle told the Ranger.
“We have various examples where egg producers who have traded with us for many years get a flock that is unlike previous flocks for no apparent reason. We ourselves cannot understand this in many instances.
“We have done trials where we have reared for separate laying houses in the same rearing house where the birds have then performed totally different. We have also supplied non-beak trimmed birds from a single rearing house to customers who have multiple houses where one laying house pecks but the other houses don’t.”
But when it comes to bird behaviour Mr Carlyle points to another link in the chain that leads from breeder farm to laying unit.
“Rearers certainly do play an important part in preparing a bird for its laying cycle,” he says. “However, to go back a further step we are only as good as the chicks we are supplied with from the hatcheries.
“There is no easy way to improve the uniformity of supply,” he admits, “but working closer with the chick hatcheries is important as there is a definite and clear correlation between uniformity and the age of the breeder flock that chicks come from and multiples of breeder flocks a single chick intake is sourced from.”
So everything from the age of your hens’ parents to the type of drinkers they used as youngsters can have a major impact on your business. But what about the breed of bird?
“I do believe some breeds are less likely to peck than others,” said Mr Carlyle. “However, Defra have never come out and said what these breeds are and I believe it would be dangerous for an independent pullet rearer to comment as well, although we probably all know which breed is the most docile and which is the most aggressive.
“I do believe breeders do have a positive part to play in producing a docile bird but the bigger picture of the world market can be an over-bearing pressure in some instances. As world-wide egg production is still dominated by cages this may dilute some of the pressure for docility.”
So given all the unknowns does he believe that beak trimming could be safely banned by the target date of 2011?
“I am not sure if the 2011 date is an achievable target,” he said, “it depends on the future success of proposed trials. I am very enthusiastic about the work that has already been done, and is being programmed to be done, in relation to the infra-red beak enhancement treatment. This involve chicks being treated at the hatchery and the early results are very promising.
“I believe this is the great British compromise. It avoids ‘mutilation’ of the birds, as some welfare groups like to refer to beak-trimming, but still provides an effective means of controlling pecking.”
