INFLUENCING FACTORS LEADING TO DAMAGING BEHAVIOR - FEATHER PECKING AND CANNIBALISM IN GAME BIRDS

Abstract

Behavioural disorders, including feather pecking and cannibalism, are a common problem in both domestic and wild birds. Damaging behaviour is polyethiological and is divided into two major groups of factors: extrinsic and intrinsic. Extrinsic factors are those that are not dependent on the species of bird-factors from outside the organism which causes injurious pecking (IP). There are three abiotic groups assigned: nutritional factors (the composition of the ration and nutritional strategies), factors of the environment (light, temperature, sound, and air), and conditions of breeding (density, size, type of system, and enrichment of the conditions of breeding). Intrinsic are the factors that depend on the species of bird – factors coming from the organism and influencing injurious pecking. Seven biotic factors are assigned: social (imitating, sexual, stereotypical and maternal behaviour), sex (male and female sex hormones), age (young and adult), stress (fear, stress and corticosterone), central-nervous (serotonin, dopamine and noradrenaline), hereditary (genotypic and phenotypic manifestation) and immunological. It is important to have an understanding of the influencing factors leading to an onset of injurious pecking in order to successfully control the behavior in game birds bred in captivity.

Keywords

• damaging behavior
• injurious pecking (ip); feather pecking (fp); cannibalism
• pheasant
• game birds