October 16, 2008

Sand and fibre in poultry feed prevents cannibalism

Adding sand and fibres to poultry feed can prevent cannibalism among chickens because the time spent on eating is prolonged, according to Dr Marinus van Krimpen of Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

Wild chickens spend 60 percent of their time looking for food. Etiologists think that feather picking in domesticated chickens is a derived from this behaviour. However, with the high energy diets in commercial poultry farms, animals do not spend a lot of time eating anymore, which leads to boredom, feather picking and even cannibalism.

In his research, Van Krimpen diluted conventional diets with sand and fibre, which means that the chickens spend more time finding food. The fibre also made the feed more filling for the birds. It was shown that this measure led to a significant reduction in feather picking if the sand and fibre is provided from the beginning. He said that if you only give the older chickens the diluted feed, it will be too late as the feather picking is then already picked up by the birds.

This study plays in on the ban on beak trimming in 2011, and the ban on caged systems in 2012. From 2012 all the chickens will be held in groups, meaning aggression will be higher and problems such as feather picking will increase.

Some poultry farmers are already using the diluted feed. The disadvantage for farmers is that they have to buy a greater volume of feed. Additionally, more manure is produced.