Nienke van Staaveren

Utrecht University | UU

Background Ear and tail lesions are prevalent indicators of impaired welfare observed in pig production with different multifactorial causes. Understanding the progression of ear and tail lesions over time is important to implement preventative strategies on commercial pig farms. Therefore, this case study aimed to provide a detailed account of pat...

Fault bars are visible deformities in the feather structure potentially related to the stress response and may be an interesting trait that can reflect robustness. This study’s objective was to describe fault bars along the length of domestic turkey feathers and investigate whether fault bars are associated with feather corticosterone (FCORT). The...

Domestic laying hens rely primarily on their hindlimbs for terrestrial locomotion. Although they perform flapping flight, they appear to use maximal power during descent and thus may lack control for maneuvering and avoiding injuries on landing. This in turn may result in injury in open rearing systems. Wing-assisted incline running (WAIR) requires...

In flying birds, the pectoralis (PECT) and supracoracoideus (SUPRA) generate most of the power required for flight, while the wing feathers create the aerodynamic forces. However, in domestic laying hens, little is known about the architectural properties of these muscles and the forces the wings produce. As housing space increases for commercial l...

Changes in the environment or novel procedures can result in altered cow behavior during data collection; training is often recommended to ensure accurate data is being recorded. Currently, little is known regarding the habituation of dairy cows during methane emission testing with the GreenFeed emission monitoring system (C-Lock Inc., Rapid City,...

The Resilient Dairy Genome Project (RDGP) is an international large-scale applied research project that aims to generate genomic tools to breed more resilient dairy cows. In this context, improving feed efficiency and reducing greenhouse gases from dairy is a high priority. The inclusion of traits related to feed efficiency (e.g., dry matter intake...

Growing consumer awareness means that the dairy industry needs to continuously review and improve standards of animal health and welfare. Genetic selection is a tool which can contribute to this, however, limited research has been conducted on the genetics of resistance to enzootic bovine leukosis (LEUK) and calf-hood diseases in Canadian dairy cat...

Birds use their legs and wings when transitioning from aerial to ground locomotion during landing. To improve our understanding of the effects of footpad dermatitis (FPD) and keel bone fracture (KBF) upon landing biomechanics in laying hens, we measured ground-reaction forces generated by hens (n = 37) as they landed on force plates (Bertec Corpora...

Calf diseases remain a challenge for dairy producers from both an economic and welfare perspective. Genetically selecting for disease resistance in calves is a promising approach that could contribute to sustainable dairy farming. Genetic evaluations, however, require well-defined and consistently recorded phenotypes to be successful. Therefore, th...

Domestic chickens may live in environments which restrict wing muscle usage. Notably, reduced wing activity and accompanying muscle weakness are hypothesized risk factors for keel bone fractures and deviations. We used radio-frequency identification (RFID) to measure duration spent at elevated resources (feeders, nest-boxes), ultrasonography to mea...

Robustness can refer to an animal’s ability to overcome perturbations. Intense selection for production traits in livestock has resulted in reduced robustness which has negative implications for livability as well as production. There is increasing emphasis on improving robustness through poultry breeding, which may involve identifying novel phenot...

Animal breeders have exploited many technological advances for increasing genetic gain in economically and functionally important traits. The implementation of such technologies in routine breeding programs has permitted genetic gains in traditional milk, meat and egg production traits as well as, more recently, in low-heritability traits like heal...

The present study investigated the prevalence and co-occurrence of integument injuries in Canadian turkeys. Participating farmers scored 30 birds in their flock for integument injuries to the head/neck (HN), back/tail (BT), and footpad (FP) using a simplified scoring system (0: no sign of injury, 1: mild injury, 2: severe injury). Information from...

Feather loss in domestic chickens can occur due to wear and tear, disease or bird-to-bird pecking. Flight feather loss may decrease wing use, cause pectoral muscle loss and adversely impact the keel bone to which these muscles anchor. Feather loss and muscle weakness are hypothesized risk factors for keel bone fractures that are reported in up to 9...

It is currently unclear whether potential probiotics such as lactic acid bacteria could affect behavioral problems in birds. To this end, we assessed whether a supplementation of Lactobacillus rhamnosus JB-1 can reduce stress-induced severe feather pecking (SFP), feather damage and fearfulness in adult birds kept for egg laying. In parallel, we ass...

Ground-dwelling species of birds, such as domestic chickens ( Gallus gallus domesticus ), experience difficulties sustaining flight due to high wing loading. This limited flight ability may be exacerbated by loss of flight feathers that is prevalent among egg-laying chickens. Despite this, chickens housed in aviary style systems need to use flight...

Wing flapping and body movement can occur during the slaughter of poultry. Wing movement and flapping are driven primarily by the breast muscles (Pectoralis major and minor), and this muscle activity may have implications for meat quality. The objective of this study was to evaluate turkey post mortem activity during slaughter at a commercial poult...

To efficiently meet consumer demands for high-quality lean meat, turkeys are selected for increased meat yield, mainly by increasing breast muscle size and growth efficiency. Over time, this has altered muscle morphology and development rates, which are believed to contribute to the prevalence of myopathies. White striping is a myopathy of economic...

Injurious pecking can cause a wide range of damage and is an important welfare and economic issue in turkey production. Aggressive pecking typically targets the head/neck (HN) area, and feather pecking typically targets the back/tail (BT) area; injuries in these separate areas could be used as a proxy for the level of aggressive and feather pecking...

Pendulous crop (PC) in the turkey occurs when the crop distends from its normal position, thereby preventing the movement of feed and water from the crop down into the digestive system. This condition negatively impacts the turkey industry at both production and welfare levels. In this study, we estimated the genetic parameters for PC incidence and...

Recent issues in the dairy industry related to both animal and public health concerns are leading farmers away from the use of drugs, while placing more focus on animal health and welfare. Public demands are also shifting towards ensuring socially acceptable production practices in terms of good animal health and welfare. Such challenges are moving...

Increased focus on sustainability is driving a need for environmental efficiency traits in dairy cattle breeding. Breeding for reduced emission of methane, an inevitable product of fermentation in ruminants, is increasingly being explored. Methods to measure methane emissions vary but can be impacted by cow behaviour. As part of an on-going project...

Genetic improvement of health, welfare, efficiency, and fertility traits is challenging due to expensive and fuzzy phenotypes, the polygenic nature of traits, antagonistic genetic correlations to production traits and low heritabilities. Nevertheless, many organizations have introduced large-scale genetic evaluations for such traits in routine sele...

Abstract In mammals, early-life probiotic supplementation is a promising tool for preventing unfavourable, gut microbiome-related behavioural, immunological, and aromatic amino acid alterations later in life. In laying hens, feather-pecking behaviour is proposed to be a consequence of gut-brain axis dysregulation. Lactobacillus rhamnosus decreases...

Temperature stress (TS) is a significant issue in poultry production, which has implications for animal health and welfare, productivity, and industry profitability. Temperature stress, including both hot (heat stress) and cold conditions (cold stress), is associated with increased incidence of meat quality defects such as pale, soft, and exudative...

Footpad dermatitis (FPD) can be a prevalent issue in commercial turkey production. This study aimed to identify the bird, housing, and management-related factors associated with the prevalence of FPD in the Canadian turkey flocks. A questionnaire and flock health scoring system were developed and disseminated to ∼500 commercial turkey farmers acros...