Cage-Free Production:What Egg Farmers Might Learn from Broiler Growers

Iowa Poultry Association Fall FestivalWest Des Moines, Iowa

September 20, 2018

Tom Tabler, Ph.D.Mississippi State University Extension Service

Poultry Science Department

Cage-Free Won’t be Easy

• Pros and Cons• Increased disease risks• Worms• Litter management• Welfare issues• Food safety concerns• Lighting issues• Better education required – biosecurity, hygiene, clean and disinfect

Upside to Cage-Free

• Room to exhibit “natural behaviors”• Dust bathing

• Wing flapping

• Short flights

• Grooming

• Perching

• Locomotion

Downside to Cage-Free

• More risks with a more open environment• Chickens fly into things• Land awkwardly and hurt themselves

• Increased morbidity and mortality from both disease and behavioral issues

• Food safety concerns• Management issues

• Increased floor eggs• Litter management is challenging• Cleaning and disinfecting is difficult

• Environmental working conditions change dramatically for employees

GoodLitter

Not so Good Litter

Increased Disease Threat• Increased contact with manure means

increased bacterial and parasitic diseases• Increased NH3 and dust means poorer air

quality• Litter on the floor means pathogen buildup

(little to no C and D between flocks)• Greater exposure to bacterial and parasitic

pathogens (E. coli, Salmonella, NE, worms, mites)

• Behavioral problems (egg eating, aggression, cannibalism, feather pecking, vent pecking)

• Coccidiosis is greatest parasitic disease threat• Often leads to necrotic enteritis

Coccidiosis• Protozoal disease from genus Eimeria• 9 species of Eimeria:

• E. acervulina• E. maxima• E. necatrix• E. tenella• E. brunetti• E.mitis• E. mivati• E. praecox• E. hagani

Clinical Signs• Bloody droppings• Ruffled feathers• Anemia• Dehydration• Lethargy, depression• Poor growth/weight loss• Non-uniformity• Drop in egg production• High mortality

Prevention – Treatment - Control• Treatment in the feed or water (Amprol in the

water; coccidiostat in the feed)• Becomes difficult if on NAE program

• Spray vaccinate for coccidiosis at the hatchery (must be uniform)

• Correct feed, water, temperature and litter moisture

• Continuous feed/water supply• Adequate temp/humidity levels to stimulate oocyst

sporulation

Worms - Roundworms• Clinical Signs

• Asymptomatic – no signs

• Loss of body weight/emaciation (mainly in young birds)

• Poor growth and feed efficiency

• Decreased egg production

• Diarrhea

• Lethargy

• Increased mortality (intestinal obstruction)

Litter Management• Ventilation extremely important; especially in winter• Controlling moisture is critical• Moisture is the key factor influencing litter quality

• Increases NH3 issues

• Promotes bacterial growth

• Increases pathogen development

• Caked litter traps moisture

• Litter that is too dry creates dust problems and air quality concerns

Welfare Issues• Requires you be at the chicken house

• Aggression – genetics are important

• Feather/vent pecking

• Cannibalism• All birds tend to be aggressive and cannibalistic by nature• More exaggerated in a cage-free setting• Increased stress (poorer air quality; NH3, dust levels)

• Skeletal injuries• Especially keel and leg injuries• Flying into things• Hard landings

Food Safety• High environmental microbial levels in

cage-free housing; similar to broiler production

• Increased risk for bacterial contamination (Salmonella)

• Floor eggs have huge opportunity for exposure to high levels of microorganisms

• Limit floor eggs; proper lighting will help

Lighting• Lighting has to be uniform to decrease floor eggs

• Chickens hunt dark spots to lay their eggs

• Difficult to have uniform lighting in a cage-free environment

• Learn to use lighting (Kelvin rating (color), dimming, changing intensities on different levels in the aviary) to your advantage

Management• Must relearn management practices. Broiler

folks did this when industry went from curtain-sided housing to solid walls

• Special attention must be paid to light management, nutrition, and animal health

• Air quality is critical (fans, vent doors, dust, NH3)

• Birds must learn to move in a 3-dimensional environment without hurting themselves

• Cage-free chickens eat more feed. They burn more calories because they move around more, so they aren’t as efficient

Aviary Systems

• True aviary system is a series of multi-tiered platforms for different activities (nesting, perching, feeding)

• Allows for vertical movement throughout the house and greater stocking density

• Increased ability to forage, dust bathe, and perch; but greater exposure to litter

• NH3 and dust levels harder to control

Floor Systems• Hens can roam on the floor with access to

litter and nest boxes/colony nests

• Greater movement horizontally; less movement vertically

• Higher mortality rates (feather pecking/cannibalism)

• Hens constantly establishing and re-establishing a peck order

Challenges

• Layers have been in cages for over 50 yrs

• Can we suddenly take them out without compromising health, welfare, production, and performance?

• My guess is probably not (in the beginning)

• Continuing research will improve cage-free systems but not overnight; won’t happen in 6 months, or maybe even in 6 years

Challenges• It will take time and money to understand what works best

to modify cage-free housing, refine genetics, improve nutrition, and re-learn management practices and skills

• It will require:• Increased education (diseases, litter, air quality, vaccines,

housing, lighting, etc.)• Better disease monitoring• Improved biosecurity• Improved cleaning and disinfecting programs (farms, hatcheries,

etc.)• Understanding there are drastic differences between a cage vs.

cage-free environment and those differences must be managed accordingly

Sustainability• Broiler folks struggle with this every day (slow-growing

broilers, NAE, all vegetable diets, efficiency, production costs)

• Sustainability is critical (animal welfare, environmental impact, food safety, affordability, worker safety)

• Folks must realize, cage-free comes with trade-offs:• More eggs laid on the floor (contamination, food safety, extra labor)• Lower feed efficiency (higher production costs, increased retail egg

prices, larger environmental footprint)• Greater disease threat• Higher mortality rates; more bird injuries• Is this sustainability; are trade-offs worth the cost?

Summary• Hard to say what the ideal cage-free system is or will be in the future

• Cage-free birds have different needs

• Farmers must first learn those needs and then adequately provide

• Becomes easier with time as we discover what does or doesn’t work

• Difficult right now because cage-free is a moving target

• No clear definition as to what cage-free really is now or how that definition may change in the future

Thank You!