Document type : ITAVI video on the results of the CASDAR beak trimming project
Authors: ITAVI, ANSES, INRAE, ISA Lille, Chambre d'Agriculture Pays de Loire et Nord Pas de Calais, Synalaf, CNPO and Hendrix Genetics
The egg production chain is currently undergoing major changes. In addition to changes in farming methods, the practice of beak trimming, where the tip of the beak is cauterised with a laser beam to restrict pecking and cannibalism, is a particularly controversial one. However, beak trimming has nothing to do with debeaking, the amputation of the tip of the beak, which is no longer practised in France. Uncertainties subsist, though, around the fact that animals feel pain during infrared beak treatment.
The pecking that can occur in laying-hen farms is influenced by many factors. There is no miracle solution to effectively combat pecking and cannibalism. Instead, farming practices need to be looked at as a whole to limit the risks.
As beak trimming is under review in the European Union, farmers must consider producing eggs with non-trimmed hens in the medium term. This short video sets out the risk factors associated with pecking in farms and offers recommendations to limit its occurrence in pullets and laying hens.
