Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38948678›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in veterinary science2024

Making the most of life: environmental choice during rearing enhances the ability of laying hens to take opportunities.

Lena Skånberg, Regine V Holt, Ruth C Newberry, Inma Estevez, Kirste McCrea, Linda J Keeling

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in veterinary science, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Lena SkånbergDepartment of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Regine V HoltDepartment of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.
Ruth C NewberryDepartment of Animal and Aquacultural Sciences, Faculty of Biosciences, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.
Inma EstevezNeiker Basque Institute for Agricultural Research, Basque Research and Technology Alliance, Vitoria, Spain.
Kirste McCreaDepartment of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.
Linda J KeelingDepartment of Applied Animal Science and Welfare, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Introduction: The potential of aviary housing for improving laying hen ( Methods: Laying hen chicks were assigned to either a "Single-choice" (one litter and perch type) or "Multi-choice" environment (four litter and perch types) during "Early" (day 1-week 4) and "Late" rearing (week 5-15). The environments were switched in half of the 16 pens in week 5, resulting in a 2 × 2 factorial design with four choice environment by period combinations. The allocation of perch and litter space was the same across all treatment combinations. In week 16, all groups were moved to standard aviary laying pens (Laying period, week 16-27). Results: When first moved to the laying pens, hens with Multi-choice in either or both rearing periods were quicker to spread out in their pen than hens with Single-choice throughout rearing. Multi-choice in Early rearing also reduced the latency to use novel elevated structures (perches and nests) in the laying pens. Multi-choice during Late rearing increased success in finding and consuming hidden mealworms (tested in weeks 9-17) and increased the proportion of eggs laid on elevated nesting trays. Numerically, hens switched from Multi-choice to Single-choice in week 5 used the outdoor range less than hens switched from Single-choice to Multi-choice. Discussion: These results support the hypothesis that offering multiple resource choices during rearing improves hens' ability to make the most of new opportunities by being more proactive in exploring and exploiting newly available resources. In different opportunity challenges, hens showed positive outcomes in response to choice during Early, Late or both stages of rearing, suggesting that best results can be obtained by offering environmental choice throughout rearing.

Indexed as

agencybehavioral developmentenrichmentenvironmental complexitylitterperchespositive animal welfarepullets

Identifiers

PMID38948678
PMCPMC11211632

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.