Individual Ranging Behaviour of Laying Hens - Automatic Registration with RFID-Technology

Abstract

An automatic identification and registration system has been developed which records the ranging behaviour of laying hens with RFID transponders. Results on the reliability of identification and the ranging behaviour of an entire flock over a full laying period are described. The transponders integrated into a wing tag enabled more than 97% of all laying hens to be identified correctly while passing the pop hole. Evaluations of the ranging behaviour showed that the winter garden was used only by a maximum of 50% of the animals and the length of stay varied between 2 and 8 hours per day.