New study shows tree cover leads to healthier hens
A new piece of commercial research, conducted by the Food Animal Initiative (FAI) and McDonald’s UK, has shown that planting more trees on the range encourages laying hens to roam more freely outdoors which in turn reduces the amount of feather pecking in the flock.
Feather pecking is one of the biggest welfare issues for free range laying hens and a constant economic problem for farmers who are seeing raised mortality rates as a result. The study was carried out to determine whether planting trees on the range led to a reduction in injurious feather pecking and a net increase in animal welfare for laying hens.
The in-depth research, which was also supported by key McDonald’s UK suppliers Noble Foods and The Lakes Free Range Egg Company, reveals that without good canopy coverage the full benefits of free-range are often not fully realised. Planting a minimum of 5% canopy cover close to the hen house is both a feasible and practical method of enabling producers to reduce feather damage by feather pecking in their laying hen flocks.
Lead author of the paper, Dr Ashleigh Bright from the FAI said; ’Feather pecking is a constant cause for concern for free range egg producers We hope that our research findings will encourage more free range egg producers to increase the amount of good quality canopy cover on their ranges as there is both a welfare benefit to the laying hens and an economic benefit to the farmer.’
McDonald’s UK Agriculture Assurance Manager, Joy Clachan, said; ’At McDonald’s we are committed to improving animal welfare and our involvement in this research is a natural extension to the work we do with internationally renowned welfare experts on an ongoing basis to ensure best practices are in place.’
’The need to look into the issue of feather pecking has been widely acknowledged by the industry for some time and we’re delighted that our paper has now been published in the Animal Welfare Journal which will help to spread the word about the proven benefits of tree planting.’
The study also suggests that planting more trees on the range may provide additional environmental benefits such as soil stabilisation, reduced nutrient leaching and carbon sequestration.
McDonald’s UK has been working closely with the FAI since its inception in 2001, supporting and investing in research aimed to improve animal welfare standards in a commercial environment. The company has also been using free range eggs on its menu for the last 12 years.
The full paper entitled ’Canopy cover is correlated with reduced injurious feather pecking in commercial flocks of free-range laying hens’ has been published in the August edition of the Animal Welfare Journal.
