Animal: An International Journal of Animal Bioscience Light-based monitoring devices to assess range use by laying hens

: Access to an outdoor range has many potential benefits for laying hens but range use can be poor due to factors only partly understood. Techniques to monitor individual range use within commercial flocks are crucial to increase our understanding of these factors. Direct observation of individual range use is difficult and time-consuming, and automatic monitoring currently relies on equipment that is difficult to use in an on-farm setting without itself influencing range use. We evaluated the performance of a novel small, light, and readily portable light-based monitoring system by validating its output against direct observations. Six commercial houses (2000 hens/house) and their adjacent ranges were used, three of which were equipped with more structures on the range than the others (to determine whether cover would influence monitoring accuracy). In each house 14 hens were equipped with light monitoring devices for 5 discrete monitoring cycles of 7-8 consecutive days (at 20, 26, 32, 36 and 41 weeks of age). Light levels were determined each minute: if the reading on the hen-mounted device exceeded indoor light levels the hen was classified as outside. Focal hens were observed directly for 5 minutes/hen/week. Accuracy (% of samples where monitoring and direct observations were in agreement) was high both for ranges with more and with fewer structures, although slightly better for the latter (92 vs. 96% ± 1 SEM, F1,19=5.2, P=0.034). Furthermore, accuracy increased over time (89, 94, 95, 98% ± 1 SEM for observations at 26, 32, 36 and 41 weeks, Abstract Access to an outdoor range has many potential benefits for laying hens but range use can be poor due to factors only partly understood. Techniques to monitor individual range use within commercial flocks are crucial to increase our understanding of these factors. Direct observation of individual range use is difficult 20 and time-consuming, and automatic monitoring currently relies on equipment that is difficult to use in an on-farm setting without itself influencing range use. We evaluated the performance of a novel small, light, and readily portable light-based 23 monitoring system by validating its output against direct observations. Six 24 commercial houses (2000 hens/house) and their adjacent ranges were used, three 25 of which were equipped with more structures on the range than the others (to 26 determine whether cover would influence monitoring accuracy). In each house 14 27 hens were equipped with light monitoring devices for 5 discrete monitoring cycles of 28 7-8 consecutive days (at 20, 26, 32, 36 and 41 weeks of age). Light levels were 29 determined each minute: if the reading on the hen-mounted device exceeded indoor 30 light levels the hen was classified as outside. Focal hens were observed directly for 5 31 minutes/hen/week. Accuracy (% of samples where monitoring and direct 32 observations were in agreement) was high both for ranges with more and with fewer 33 structures, although slightly better for the latter (92 vs. 96% ± 1 SEM, F 1,19 =5.2, 34 P=0.034). Furthermore, accuracy increased over time (89, 94, 95, 98% ± 1 SEM for 35 observations at 26, 32, 36 and 41 weeks, respectively, F 3,19 =3.2, P=0.047), probably 36 due to progressively reduced indoor light levels resulting from partial closing of 37 ventilation openings to sustain indoor temperature. Light-based monitoring was 38 sufficiently accurate to indicate a tendency for a greater percentage of monitored 39 time spent outside when more range structures were provided (more: 67%, fewer: 40 56%, SEM: 4, χ 21 =2.9, P=0.089). Furthermore, clear and relatively consistent 41 individual differences were detected. Individuals that were caught outside at the start 42 of the experiment ranged more throughout its duration (caught outside: 72%, caught 43 inside 51%, SEM: 4, χ 21 =10.0, P=0.002), and individual range use was correlated 44 between monitoring cycles (for adjacent monitoring cycles: r s2 =0.5-0.7, P<0.0001). 45 This emphasizes the importance of studying range use on an individual level. In 46 conclusion, our light-based monitoring system can assess individual range use 47 accurately (although accuracy was affected by house characteristics to some extent) 48 and was used to show that both cover availability and individual characteristics 49 affected range use. 50