On-farm survey of beak characteristics in White Leghorns as a result of hot blade trimming or infrared beak treatment

Commercial laying hens in North America are typically beak trimmed to prevent injury and mortality caused by feather pecking and cannibalism. Beak trimming is most commonly performed on day-old chicks at the hatchery, either by hot blade (HB) or infrared (INF) techniques. The differences between these 2 methods and the potential variability within each method may cause morphological differences in the beaks of laying hens throughout their production cycle. Few data are available detailing variations between the beaks of laying hens after trimming in commercial settings. The purpose of this field survey was to measure beak lengths of 4 commercial laying hen flocks at 2 age ranges treated by either HB or INF techniques at hatch. Statistical analyses of the data for the 2 treatment types were not possible because of genetic and environmental differences between flocks; therefore, statements comparing treatments are not meant as definitive and are provided for general information only. Infrared-treated hens had shorter beaks with a lower SEM, and they generally exhibited fewer beak abnormalities than HB-trimmed hens at both ages. It is our observation in this field survey that INF-treated commercial hens seemed to have less variation in beak length and fewer beak abnormalities.