USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service estimates that two-thirds of laying hens in the US will need to be in cage-free production by 2026 to meet the projected demand, but the practice requires considerable planning by producers. Besides installing new equipment, producers also need to understand how a pullet’s brain develops to ensure a smooth transition.
Understanding how pullets’ early development and housing impact their successful transition to a multi-tiered egg-laying aviary and improve their performance was the subject of a recent report from the Poultry Extension Collaborative, “Pullet rearing: Preparing laying hens for a cage-free environment.”
According to the report’s lead author — Allison Pullin, PhD, assistant professor of animal welfare at North Carolina State University — an aviary where feed, water, nests and perches are available on tiers requires hens to have cognitive abilities to process spatial information and be physically skilled at vertical and horizontal movement. These abilities must be developed as pullets mature. Read more