Preferred food rewards for laying hens in behavioural experiments

Area of Science:

• Animal Behavior
• Avian Nutrition
• Animal Welfare

Background:

• Food deprivation is commonly used to motivate laying hens in behavioral studies.
• This deprivation can cause mild distress to the animals.
• Alternative methods to motivate hens without deprivation are needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess laying hen preference for maggots compared to other food sources.
• To evaluate the motivational efficacy of maggots in an operant conditioning task.
• To determine if maggots can replace food deprivation in behavioral studies with laying hens.

Main Methods:

• Preference tests were conducted with laying hens, offering maggots alongside wheat and feed pellets.
• An operant conditioning task was used to measure hen motivation for maggots.
• The effect of food deprivation (up to 6 hours) on motivation for maggots was assessed.

Main Results:

• Laying hens demonstrated a clear preference for maggots over other tested food items.
• Motivation to work for maggots was high and not significantly affected by short-term food deprivation.
• Extrapolation suggests maggots are highly motivating, potentially replacing the need for prolonged food deprivation.

Conclusions:

• Maggots are a highly preferred food source for laying hens.
• Using maggots can eliminate the need for food deprivation in behavioral research with hens.
• This approach enhances animal welfare by reducing distress associated with deprivation and may avoid regulatory oversight.