Food ball device for hens: enriching or ineffectual?

Cameron, who is a real hen-thusiast, received a BHWT research grant to fund this study. He has also set up a group at university called Avian Medicine Club, dedicated to research into hen health.

With seasonal mandatory Housing Orders in response to Avian Influenza becoming more frequent and prolonged, many hen keepers are interested in ways to improve the indoor environment for their birds. One possibility is to employ environmental enrichment, a husbandry approach that seeks to optimise welfare and reduce stress by promoting natural behaviour. Enrichment methods are wide ranging, including physical changes to increase the complexity of the surroundings, presentation of toys or novel objects, as well as providing for sensory and social stimulation. The most common approach is food-based enrichment, which involves offering new food items, or providing different ways for animals to obtain food. Surprisingly, despite the huge body of research on optimal housing conditions for commercial poultry, there is a total lack of scientific research on effective enrichments for backyard hens.

In a BHWT-supported summer research project at the University of Glasgow, veterinary student Cameron Clark aimed to find out if a commercially available ‘food ball’ toy, designed for hens, could provide effective enrichment. Food balls present a simple puzzle – food falls out when the ball is pecked, rolled around and manipulated. Working on a small group of indoor housed hens, Cameron repeatedly presented a food ball for one hour each day, for 18 days. The ball contained either normal layer diet, corn or mealworms in a balanced order. Cameron was interested to find out if the hens would be quick to approach the ball initially (or whether they would be wary), if they would interact with it and whether engagement would be affected over time and by the food filling. Using video footage, he carried out behavioural observations of the birds.

The results were clear – the hens interacted enthusiastically with the ball immediately on presentation (there was no evidence of fear) and they rolled it around until it was empty. However, their interest quickly waned and by the sixth day they almost totally ignored the ball, regardless of the food filling. There were also minimal effects of the ball on the overall behaviour of the hens.

Loss of interest over time is a common issue with enrichment devices, and Cameron’s research shows that simply adding a food ball to a pen isn’t likely to be an effective way to enrich the environment of indoor housed hens. Food balls may have value, but they would have to be cleverly used to keep the hens guessing, perhaps being added at random times and in different locations, with more variable fillings. The fact that the hens engaged initially shows that they are seeking stimulation from the environment, and that they would benefit from enrichment. More research is urgently needed to find proven ways for hen keepers to provide effective, practical and affordable environmental enrichment, ideally drawing on the creativity and knowledge of the hen keeping community as a starting point for strategies to be tested. Reflecting on his first experience of the research process, Cameron said “It was a great opportunity have a go at some practical research with chickens, measure chicken behaviour and learn what goes into producing a scientific report”.