Unbitted bird at five and a half weeks. Note the bare back and bleeding from tail blood quills. (Des Purdy)
normal or at a nominal three weeks old and, apart from the bit, other management was the same for both groups. If feather pecking became a welfare problem in any unbitted group, there was the facility to bit the affected birds to minimise this. We found that all the bitted birds maintained good feather condition throughout the study, whereas the condition of the unbitted birds deteriorated in all cases where feather pecking was evident. In five out of seven cases the condition of the ‘unbitted’ birds deteriorated so much that they had to be bitted on welfare grounds. At all sites, feather pecking adversely affected the welfare of the birds. Six of the seven farms (one did not comment) considered the non-bitted birds unfit for release, as they would have been liable to chilling in bad weather. Five farms provided data on mortality, four of which showed an increase in mortality in the non-bitted birds. The exception showed an increase in mortality in the bitted birds, but this was associated with an outbreak of hexamitiasis. Two of the three farms where body weight was measured demonstrated a weight advantage in favour of the bitted birds. This was reversed in the third farm possibly owing to hexamitiasis. Of the sites where it was measured, there was little difference in food consumption. In further studies we have shown that where feather pecking does not occur, bitted birds perform as well as unbitted ones.
Pheasant with bit in situ and due for removal. (Des Purdy)
Unbitted bird at five and a half weeks. Note the bare back, absence of a tail and lesions on hock and tarsal areas. (Des Purdy)
Review of 2004
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