Environmental enrichment for chickens under SPCA Certified standards

Poultry, as with other farmed animals, are sentient and capable of both positive and negative experiences, which contribute to their overall quality of life. Providing environmental enrichment aims to improve their quality of life, by providing stimuli necessary for psychological (mental) and physiological (physical) well-being.

Environmental enrichment can include social, cognitive, physical, sensory and nutritional stimulation, and where possible should focus on species-specific behaviours. Increasing complexity of an animal’s environment can also promote learning and development and help make animals more resilient later in life.

Poultry are intelligent and naturally curious animals, and show a strong behavioural drive to roost, perch, forage, preen and nest. Providing enrichment which allows expression of these behaviours, can reduce the occurrence of abnormal behaviours, and increase pleasurable behaviours, resulting in more positive mental experiences. Increasing bird activity, via provision of environmental enrichment, can also support better bird health, such as promoting better skeletal health, leg strength, better feather cover and decrease adverse behaviours, such as feather pecking.

The welfare of layer hens and meat chickens can be improved with the addition of structures or furniture that they can roost or perch on. Layer hens will make good use of perches, which can be built into the system, or provided as separate structures. Meat chickens, being a larger bird make better use of low, wide platforms, to satisfy their desire to perch and roost. Perches and platforms can be supplemented with other objects on which chickens can roost, such as hay bales, tree branches and stumps.

SPCA Certified standards require provision of perches and/or platforms in all sheds.

Pecking is an innate behaviour that starts in the egg and plays a crucial role in feeding, drinking, and social hierarchy. Provision of novel pecking objects can satisfy this natural behaviour in farming situations, giving birds alternative pecking substrates, as well as blunting the beak. Giving chickens pecking objects is a simple way to keep them occupied, and can help promote positive foraging behaviours.

Once such item are pecking ‘stones’ - peckable mineral blocks that can be placed on the ground or hung for chickens to interact with. Pecking stones can also be formed with grains and molasses to form an edible block that doubles as a form of nutritional enrichment. Other ways to satisfy a chicken’s requirement to peck is to hang hay nets with filled with hay or straw (or other peckable objects). If you find the birds are enjoying it a little too much and emptying it too quickly, try a haylage net with smaller holes, or instead fill it with crumpled balls of paper, cardboard or egg cartons.

Scattering chaff in sheds can also be another way to encourage hens to scratch around and forage in a farming situation. Adding small piles of new shavings in sheds also can encourage chickens to scratch around and forage. These activities are species specific and are highly engaging to chickens.

Novel environmental enrichment items provide interest, promote exercise and exploration, encourage foraging and provide complexity to sometimes barren environments. These items can be just about anything, as long as they are durable enough to withstand a flock of curious chickens! Plastic bottles, buckets, cones, broom heads, and other interestingly shaped objects can be hung for birds to interact with. Balls of various sizes can either be hung or placed on the ground. Some items can be as simple as natural fibre string, or light chains. Other items such as plastic mirrors, cardboard boxes (with a handful of shavings), and balled up paper can also be used.

SPCA Certified standards require the provision of sufficient and suitable behavioural enrichment items in poultry sheds.

Enrichment items that involve sound, such as bells and wall-mounted xylophones, let birds create sound via pecking the novel objects. Also, playing classical music for periods during the day has been shown in some studies to reduce stress in birds (4). In fact, one meat chicken farm teamed up with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra to create ‘ChookSymphony No 1’ to find out if the chickens really did enjoy the music.

An important aspect of environmental enrichment is to swap them out regularly with new items to keep the birds’ interest high. Natural items are great as they are biodegradable and stimulate natural behaviours, but any safe object will be a positive addition to promote good welfare. Always ensure that artificial items are checked regularly for damage and replaced if any damage is noticed.

Remember to observe how your chickens react to the items, and make adjustments as needed – if the birds are frightened or interest starts to wane, swap it out for something else.

SPCA Certified standards also require that interaction with enrichment is recorded in order to understand whether items provided actually encourage the chickens to interact more.

Dust-bathing is a behaviour that not only satisfies the bird mentally, as they are highly motivated to perform this behaviour, but also helps keep their feathers and skin in good condition, important for thermoregulation and supports overall good health. Opportunities for dust-bathing can be provided in-shed by ensuring 100% coverage of litter (wood shavings etc) across the shed, a handful of an appropriate substrate (e.g. wood shavings, peat moss, sand) in cardboard boxes and ensuring that litter is always dry and friable.

Where chickens have the opportunity to access an outdoor range, natural dust bathing areas can be incorporated in the range, or artificial dust-bathing areas provided (wooden boxes or tires filled with sand or peat moss), including overhead shade and shelter.

SPCACertified standards require friable litter (wood shavings) in 100% of the indoor area to allow chickens to dust bathe, as well as keep feathers, skin, feet and legs healthy.

Having the opportunity to access an outdoor range is great behavioural enrichment leading to positive health and welfare outcomes for chickens (3), as it provides the opportunity to perform natural behaviours in a complex environment (e.g. foraging, exploration) However, the range needs to be attractive, complex and feel safe in order for chickens to want to use it. Overheadcover is particularly important, and can be provided in the form of trees and shrubs, along with artificial shelters or shade-sails to encourage the birds to venture out from the safety of the shed and explore further onto the range.

Additional enrichment items can also be spread throughout the range, to encourage the birds to move further away from the shed. This may include hanging items from tree branches, large structures to climb on such as tree stumps, or large tires, foraging enrichment or smaller shrubs/vegetation for chickens to seek shelter under.

SPCA Certified standards require a minimum shade and shelter cover of at least 20% of the outdoor range area, where offered, and distributed in a way that encourages range use.

Providing environmental enrichment is the first step, and setting up the environment to encourage interaction is the second. Studies have shown that poultry exhibit more comfort, foraging, and play behaviour when there is more space available, and that natural light promotes interaction with enrichment items.

SPCA Certified recommends natural light or full-spectrum artificial light in sheds, as well as a minimum period of light and dark periods for both layer hens and meat chickens. Additionally, SPCA Certified requires a lower stocking density for meat chickens inside the shed.

Enrichment can be provided in countless forms, ranging from crumpled up paper to purpose-build structures, and everything in between. Any steps you can take towards enriching the lives of your chickens you farm will have a positive impact. Take a look at your system, think about the natural behaviours of chickens, and tailor your environmental enrichment plan accordingly.

If you have any questions about environmental enrichment for poultry, enquire at certified@spca.nz