Assessment of laying-bird welfare following acaricidal treatment of a commercial flock naturally infested with the poultry red mite (Dermanyssus gallinae)
Temple, Déborah (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments)
Manteca Vilanova, Xavier (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments)
Escribano Tortosa, Damián (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments)
Salas, Marina (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments)
Mainau, Eva (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Departament de Ciència Animal i dels Aliments)
Zschiesche, Eva (MSD Animal Health)
Petersen, Ivo (MSD Animal Health)
Dolz, Roser (MSD Animal Health)
Thomas, Emmanuel (MSD Animal Health)

Data:	2020
Resum:	The poultry red mite (PRM), Dermanyssus gallinae, a potential vector of pathogens to animals and humans, causes impaired bird welfare. A study investigated changes in behavioural variables, physiological biomarkers, and health parameters following acaricidal treatment of PRM infestation of laying hens on a commercial farm. Mite traps determined the challenge to 12,700 hens before and after drinking water administration of the acaricide, fluralaner (Exzolt ®, 0. 5 mg/kg; Weeks 0 and 1). Weekly daytime direct observations and night-time video recordings monitored bird behaviours from Weeks -6 through +6. Blood samples were collected from randomly-selected birds (Weeks -6, -1, and +6). Following treatment, mite count reductions (>99%) were statistically significant (P < 0. 0001), as were night-time reductions in the percent of hens showing activity, preening, head scratching (all P < 0. 0001), and head shaking (P = 0. 0007). Significant daytime reductions were observed in preening and head scratching (both P < 0. 0001), head shaking (P = 0. 0389), severe feather pecking (P = 0. 0002), and aggressive behaviour (P = 0. 0165). Post-treatment, comb wounds were significantly reduced (P = 0. 0127), and comb colour was significantly improved (P < 0. 0001). Heterophil/lymphocyte ratio was significantly reduced at Weeks 1 and 6 (P = 0. 0009 and P < 0. 0001, respectively). At Week 6, blood corticosterone (P = 0. 0041) and total oxidant status (P < 0. 0001) were significantly reduced, and haemoglobin and mean corpuscular haemoglobin significantly increased (P < 0. 0001). Farm production records indicated that those post-treatment improvements were accompanied by significant reductions in weekly mortality rate (P = 0. 0169), and significant recovery in mean weekly egg weights (P < 0. 0001) and laying rate (P < 0. 0001). The improvements in behavioural variables, physiological biomarkers, and health parameters that were observed following the elimination of PRM on a commercial farm indicate that infestations can be a cause of reduced hen welfare.
Drets:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, la comunicació pública de l'obra i la creació d'obres derivades, fins i tot amb finalitats comercials, sempre i quan es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original.
Llengua:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió publicada
Publicat a:	PloS one, Vol. 15 (november 2020) , ISSN 1932-6203

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241608
PMID: 33211741

16 p, 1.1 MB

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