The effects of environmental enrichment devices on feather picking in commercially housed Pekin ducks

Like other poultry species, Pekin ducks occasionally show an auto-mutilation behavior referred to as feather picking. Self-picking can lead to further pecking by conspecifics and ultimately to reduced feather quality and poor overall health of the bird. Although the reasons underlying feather picking are not clear, it appears to occur when the ducks are transitioning between downy feathers and adult plumage, between 17 and 22 d of age. We hypothesized that giving Pekin ducks a substitute outlet for this behavior in the form of environmental enrichment devices (EED) would decrease feather picking and improve feather quality and duck health and welfare. The EED were plastic Wiffle-style balls, each threaded with 4 zip-ties. In the first experiment, we set out to determine that placement of EED would not induce fear or harmful behaviors. Five barns were each divided into 2 pens, holding an average combined total of approximately 4,500 ducks with one pen per barn used as control. Upon placement of the EED in one pen per barn, both pens were videotaped for a total of 2 h per day. The physical characteristics of 100 ducks per pen were scored at age 7, 21, 28, and 35. Results showed a decrease (P = 0.034) in both self-picking and conspecific-pecking in pens with EED compared with pens without EED. Although no differences in body condition scores were observed at 7 d of age, by d 21 ducks with EED showed better (P = 0.021) feather quality and cleanliness scores compared with ducks without EED. In a second experiment, we set out to determine if ducks had a color preference for blue/green, red, or white EED. Again, ducks with EED showed reduced (P = 0.038) feather picking compared with ducks without EED. Ducks interacted considerably more (P = 0.00089) frequently with blue/green EED then either red or white EED. These results suggest that providing environmental enrichment may minimize feather picking and improve feather quality and duck welfare.