Keel bone fractures and deviations are one of the major welfare and health issues in commercial laying hens. In non-cage housing systems like aviaries, falls and collisions with perches and other parts of the housing system are assumed to be one of the main causes for the high incidence of keel bone damage. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effectiveness of a soft perch mater...

Both epidemiologic analyses and active disease surveillance confirm an ongoing strong association between human salmonellosis and the prevalence of Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Enteritidis in commercial egg flocks. The majority of human illnesses caused by this pathogen are attributed to the consumption of contaminated eggs. Animal welfare concerns have increasingly influence...

Cage layer fatigue was first noticed after laying hens began to be housed in cages in the mid-20th century. Hens producing eggs at a high rate were most susceptible to the disease. Early research revealed that cage layer fatigue was associated with osteoporosis and bone brittleness. Severe osteoporosis leads to spontaneous bone fractures commonly in the costochondral junctions of the ribs, the ...

Environmental conditions and bird health are important elements in assessment of animal welfare for laying hen housing systems, but limited information is available comparing different types of systems. Three types of laying hen houses caged high-rise, caged manure-belt, and cage-free floor-raised were monitored for temperature, relative humidity, carbon dioxide, and atmospheric ammonia during ...

Nowadays many manufacturers are looking for new last mile techniques to bridge the gap laying between the providers and the end-users, because they naturally want to pare down the huge expenses that come from laying down new cables to all the households. This is why great investigations are made to explore all the secrets of one of a new last mile solution: the power line. In this paper we will...

Salmonella contamination of laying hen flocks and shell eggs is associated with various management and environmental factors. Foodborne outbreaks of human salmonellosis have been traced back to consumption of Salmonella-contaminated shell eggs. In the present study, a systematic literature review was conducted to identify and provide an evidence-based overview of potential risk factors of Salmo...

Clozapine is an antipsychotic medication with superior efficacy in treatment refractory schizophrenia. The molecular basis of clozapine's therapeutic profile is not well understood. We studied behavioral effects of clozapine in Caenorhabditis elegans to identify novel pathways that modulate clozapine's biological effects. Clozapine stimulated egg laying in C. elegans in a dose-dependent manner....

The poultry sector in the Netherlands is confronted with the EU ban on conventional cages, the public debate on the welfare of hens in furnished cages, the limited perspectives of currently used more welfare-friendly singleor multi-tiered systems (either indoor or outdoor), and with questions about the natural behaviour of animals and the robustness of current production systems. To arrive at n...

Concerns regarding the welfare of laying hens raised in battery cages have led to the development of enriched cages that allow hens to perform natural behaviors including nesting, roosting, and scratching. This study was conducted to compare indices of production and welfare in birds housed in 2 different caging systems. Shaver White hens were housed from 21 to 61 wk in either conventional batt...