Housing layers in battery cages is a practice still used by many countries but it has been criticized because of its influence on behavioral repertoire of birds. We investigated whether simple and affordable enrichment devices alone impact behavior, foot condition and performance of laying hens housed in conventional cages. Hens were divided into plain cages (CON), cages with perches (PER), and cages with tassels and scratch-pads (ENR), and parameters were evaluated before and after enrichment placement. After perch placement inactivity, drinking and competition for space reduced 35.6%, 40.8% and 70.3%, respectively, whereas social interaction increased 19.3%. Both modifications decreased locomotion (75.0% and 42.4% for PER and ENR respectively) and abnormal behaviors (62.5% and 43.9.4% for PER and ENR respectively). None of the performance variables were affected by ENR or PER. Thermography was more efficient than visual inspection in detecting subclinical bumblefoot, and it confirmed that PER reduced subclinical and clinical cases. Our findings indicate that perches increased welfare-related behaviors and foot health of hens, supporting the use of these inexpensive and highly adaptable alternatives for the enrichment of battery cages.

在许多国家/地区，仍将电池笼放在鸡舍中，但这种做法由于对鸟类行为表述的影响而受到批评。我们调查了简单且负担得起的浓缩设备本身是否会影响常规笼子中产蛋鸡的行为，脚部状况和性能。将母鸡分为普通笼子（CON），带栖息者的笼子（PER）和带有流苏和便笺簿的笼子（ENR），并在富集放置前后对参数进行评估。闲置栖息后，饮酒和空间竞争分别减少了35.6％，40.8％和70.3％，而社交互动增加了19.3％。两种修改均降低了运动（PER和ENR分别为75.0％和42.4％）和异常行为（PER和ENR分别为62.5％和43.9.4％）。所有性能变量均不受ENR或PER影响。在检测亚临床前足方面，热像仪比视觉检查更有效，并证实PER减少了亚临床和临床病例。我们的研究结果表明，栖息地增加了与福利相关的行为和母鸡的脚部健康，支持使用这些廉价且高度适应的替代品来丰富电池笼。