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I can hear them - a good sign.

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They are moving, scratching the ground

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and interacting with each other.

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Those are basic requirements for a happy chicken.

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We are on the Ruthe Farm for Education and Research

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of the University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation.

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The laying hens scratching happily belong to the

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large-scale "Integhof" research project.

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The Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture

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is funding the project with 1.8 million Euros.

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The project essentially addresses animal welfare,

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improvement of housing conditions and performance

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and economic parameters.

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Today's poultry lines have been bred for high performance.

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They are specialized in producing meat or eggs.

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Only hens can lay eggs.

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The layer-type male birds are not suitable for fattening.

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So about 40 million of these male day-old chicks are killed every year.

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To change this, the males and females of the dual-purpose chicken

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were stabled in Ruthe:

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The idea is to keep the dual-purpose hens for egg production

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and to "fatten" the male chickens.

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They have a different genetic make-up than conventional broilers

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and grow more slowly until they reach an acceptable weight.

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The broiler is usually slaughtered after 35 days.

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The dual-purpose male bird lives for about 70 days,

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making the fattening more animal-friendly:

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Why is it better to first fatten animals and then slaughter them instead

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of killing them right after hatch?

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That's a very good question.

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It is simply not acceptable that a newly hatched chick

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is discarded as trash just because it is male

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and not suitable for fattening.

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The Intgehof project also focuses on improved animal husbandry, e.g.

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Conventional husbandry does not provide

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any structuring in the barn.

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Chickens don't have any facilities to sit on, e.g. roosts.

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Our research approach aims to provide an environment

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to the animals that encourages them to move around more.

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Movement and diversion may lead to a reduction of stress

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in larger groups of animals.

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Relaxed animals are important.

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Unlike in conventional husbandry, the beaks of chickens

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are not trimmed - but injuries must be avoided.

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The TiHo researchers also investigate how a modified husbandry

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affects the bird's health.

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They expect that slowly growing birds have a better

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immune defence and need fewer antibiotics.

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One of my special interest is infection medicine

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and the animal's defensive performance.

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My working group will attend the study on the Ruthe Teaching

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and Research Farm as it relates to animal health.

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I.e. we will investigate the immune response after vaccination,

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how it develops and also reasons for death.

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It will take some time until there are results from the lab.

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The project is scheduled for three years.

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Some early results:

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The eggs of dual-purpose hens are smaller,

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the fattened male birds cost more.

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But the birds appear more relaxed than their conventional cousins.

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Perhaps consumers are willing to pay the extra price

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so that animals live healthier

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and more species-appropriate.