Research/Human-animal relationships in layers
From Poultry Hub
Title: Human-animal relationships in layers
Project Leader: Paul Hemsworth at AWSC funded by Poultry CRC (Project 03-19)
Duration of Project: Now completed (1 November 2003 to 30 August 2008)
Contents |
Project overview
This project focuses on the critical role of stockpeople in poultry welfare. If it shows significant relationships between human attitudes and behaviour on one hand and bird behaviour (fear) and productivity on the other, the outcome will be to develop a cognitive-behavioural training program designed to specifically target the key attitudes and behaviours of stockpeople that have a direct effect on hen fear, productivity and welfare.
Project objectives
- Determine fear-productivity relationships in the egg industry; and
- Identify some of the stockperson behaviours that may regulate fear in hens.
Project progress
This project has been completed and the Final Report will soon be available from the Poultry CRC.
Twenty-nine units, both in Australia and the US, have been visited, with data collected on stockperson attitudes to interacting with birds and undertaking specific tasks; stockperson behaviour; fear responses (based on behavioural responses) of hens to humans; and hen productivity. Some stockperson behaviours associated with fear responses of hens will be studied in experiments (in both Australia and the US) to determine human behaviours that regulate fear of humans by hens and in turn affect hen productivity. A paper on some preliminary findings was presented at the Australian Poultry Science Symposium in 2006.
