Did you know that beak trimming has been banned in some European countries and others are working towards banning the practice, following an EU welfare directive on the issue?
Beak trimming is the partial removal of the tip of the beak, and
results in a beak that is blunt or rounded at the end. Beak trimming is
sometimes referred to as “debeaking”; however, at no time is the entire beak
removed. Beak trimming is one of the most common methods utilised by the
poultry industry (mainly the egg and turkey industries) to control the impacts
of severe feather pecking. Severe feather pecking is a welfare problem where
birds vigorously peck at and pull out the feathers of other birds.
When birds are not beak trimmed,
increased incidences of mortality and morbidity will occur due to cannibalism.
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| Hot blade beak trimmer |
Welfare problems associated with
cannibalism can be devastating. When performed correctly to industry standards,
beak trimming has advantages. These include reduced:
- Feather
pecking
- Mortality
- Vent
pecking and prolapse
- Bullying
- Stress
on the bird
When beak trimming is not done correctly,
birds can suffer from:
- Reduced
ability to eat and drink
- Short
and long term stress
- Reduced
social status
There are production techniques which may
reduce the need for beak trimming, although none of these can guarantee against
an outbreak of damaging pecking and cannibalism. These techniques include:
- Light
control
- Devices
to restrict vision
- Devices
to restrict beak use
- Environmental
enrichment
- Anti-pick
compounds
- Nutritional
amendments
- Beak
abrasives
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