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Feather pecking is a serious problem to the layer industry severely impairing animal welfare and causing economic losses. As a measure to control this unwanted behavior, beak trimming has been applied in the past, but is now banned in more and more countries including Germany. The propensity to perform feather pecking is a heritable trait. It can be reduced by means of breeding, but it is a hard-to-measure trait and to establish suitable selection schemes, knowledge of the genetic architecture of the trait is needed. Commercial flocks are of limited use for this research purpose for several reasons, but selection lines offer the possibility to realize advanced experimental designs. Here, a selective review on fundamental-type research is presented that has been conducted in the Hohenheim selection lines over the past years. Based thereon and the available literature, a mechanistic hypothesis about feather pecking is developed and it gives a perspective on implications for practical breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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In pig production, increasing litter sizes have resulted in lower and heterogenous birth weights accompanied by higher piglet mortality. Breeding to improve the birth weight and its variance within litter, along with adapted management practices, could counteract this. However, high litter size with all its animal welfare implications is under debate. The assessment of individual piglet vitality is an important approach to improve animal welfare. A standardized vitality measurement allows the identification and support of weaker piglets. Likewise, informed selection decisions could be made based on piglet vitality. Another important task is an adequate colostrum supply. This starts with sow selection, especially considering the teats and further encompasses the allocation of piglet cups and the use of foster sows. Further breeding for increased litter size will aggravate existing problems and is counterproductive. The improvement of the management factors and the implementation of vitality measurements in breeding plans may help to combine the current litter size with a high proportion of vital piglets in accordance with high animal welfare standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Züchtungskunde is the property of Verlag Eugen Ulmer and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)