Behavior and welfare impacts of water provision via misting in commercial Pekin ducks.

Ducks will access water to maintain feather condition and exhibit natural water-related behaviors such as wet preening. Providing water to ducks commercially is challenging as it may reduce litter and air quality leading to higher duck mortality or illness. This research aimed to measure the behavioral and welfare impacts of water provision via a misting system for commercial Pekin grower ducks in Victoria, Australia. Seven grower flocks were observed (four misted and three nonmisted in open-sided sheds) during May and November 2021. From 26 until 33 d of age, treatment ducks were provided 1 h of misting with shed curtains closed in both treatment and control sheds. At the start and end of the misting application period, external health and welfare measures were taken directly on the ducks via transect walks throughout each shed and catch-and-inspect observations on a sample of 150 ducks from each shed. Video recordings were also made of the misted and nonmisted ducks for 3 h representing time periods prior to, during, and after the 1-h misting across all sheds for all 8 d of the treatment period. Observations were made of all behavior that ducks exhibited at 10-min scan sample intervals across four cameras per shed, totaling 4,198 scans across the seven sheds. General linear mixed models showed the misting application predominantly had impacts on the patterns of behavioral change across the treatment time periods between the misted and nonmisted ducks rather than increasing or decreasing the overall expression of specific behaviors (interaction terms all P ≤ 0.003). The misted ducks increased drinking, tail wagging, and walking, and reduced preening, rooting litter, sitting, and stretching during misting relative to what they showed prior. The nonmisted ducks showed less sitting and more panting during misting relative to prior. Pearson's Chi-square tests showed some differences between the treatment groups in feather cleanliness on the back and wings (both P < 0.0001), likely resulting from pre-existing differences between sheds in blood from pin feathers. Most welfare indicators showed no positive or negative effect of the misting treatment. These results indicate overhead misting does affect duck behavior to some degree without compromising their welfare, but further research with larger water droplet sizes resulting in greater accumulation of surface water or extended durations of misting may lead to greater effects. Ducks use bathing water for wet preening and feather maintenance. Commercially, it is challenging to provide clean bathing water without compromising litter quality and duck health. Overhead misting may be a mode of water delivery that will wet the ducks’ bodies with continuously clean water. This study compared seven grower flocks of Pekin ducks (four misted and three nonmisted treatment flocks) in open-sided sheds during May and November 2021 in Australia. From 26 until 33 d of age, treatment ducks were provided 1 h of misting with shed curtains closed in both treatment and control sheds. External welfare measures were taken directly on the ducks at 26 and 33 d of age. Daily video recordings were made to observe if behaviors differed before, during, or after the 1 h of misting in both treatment and control sheds. Results showed the misting application predominantly affected the way behaviors changed across time between the misted and nonmisted ducks rather than increasing or decreasing the overall expression of specific behaviors. The differences may have in part been related to the curtain closure. Most welfare indicators showed no positive or negative effect of the misting treatment. Larger water droplet sizes may have greater effects on duck behavior.

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© The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Society of Animal Science.