Behaviour of hens deprived of dustbathing

Abstract

Aim of this study was to confirm the hypotheses that dustbathing behaviour of adult hens is influenced by previous manners of housing. We used 40 hens; first group was from enriched cages (EC) and second group from conventional cages (CC). The observations were performed in an experimental aviary equipped with dust bath of ash. There was a barrier – a ford with water – that prevented them from entrance into the ash bath. The observations were performed during 12 hours of light, in 5 consecutive days. During this time the ashbath was accessible with changing difficulty from 1 to 5 days. The duration of eating was higher in the EC group. The greatest difference was observed at difficulty level 3 (302 versus 207 min; P<0.001). Locomotion and standing were longer in the CC group throughout all difficulties. Durations of perching were higher in the CC group (P<0.05) and increased from difficulty 1 to difficulty 5. The length of vacuum dustbathing was shorter in the EC group than in the CC group (1.2 min vs. 4.2 min) per one hour of observation. The average length of normal dustbathing represented 6.6 min (EC) or 5.4 min per hour (CC). The results suggest that the manner of preliminary housing in enriched or conventional cages can have an influence on hen’s behaviour.