Effects of horizontal distance between perches on perching behaviors of Lohmann Hens

Perching is a highly-motivated natural behavior of laying hens that has been considered as one of the essential welfare requirements. The objective of the study was to evaluate perching behaviors of laying hens as affected by horizontal distance (HD) between parallel perches. A total of 48 Lohmann white hens in three groups (16 hens/group) were used, 68 weeks of age at the experiment onset. For each group, hens were housed in an enriched...