Journal
APPLIED ANIMAL BEHAVIOUR SCIENCE
Volume 68, Issue 4, Pages 307-318Publisher
ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
DOI: 10.1016/S0168-1591(00)00110-6
Keywords
chicken housing; ammonia; welfare; preference tests
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Ammonia gas is one of the most abundant aerial pollutants of modern poultry buildings. The current chronic exposure limit for ammonia of 25 ppm is set for human safety rather than animal welfare. This study assessed the behavioural preferences of laying hens (Gallus gallus domesticus) for different concentrations of ammonia found in commercial poultry houses. Six groups, each of six laying hens, were given the choice of three concentrations of ammonia (approximate to 0, 25 and 45 ppm) in a preference chamber over a period of 6 days and their location and behaviour recorded every 15 min. Hens foraged (p = 0.018), preened (p = 0.009) and rested(p = 0.029) significantly more in fresh air than in the ammonia-polluted environments. There was a significant difference between the responses in 0 and 25 ppm (p < 0.05) but not between 25 and 45 ppm (p > 0.05). This suggests that ammonia may be aversive to hens with a threshold for this aversion between 0 and 25 ppm. Future studies should explore graded concentrations of ammonia between 0 and 25 ppm in order to suggest a new chronic exposure limit on the basis of animal welfare. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
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