| Floor laying, meaning the laying of eggs outside of designated nest boxes, poses an economic problem for the poultry industry. Understanding factors that influence nesting choices of birds in commercial flocks has therefore important implications for poultry management. The studies described in this volume assessed factors affecting the nesting choices of Pekin ducks, the most common breed of duck used within the US duck industry, and evaluated whether incorporating these factors in nest box design may serve to increase nest attractiveness thereby decreasing the incidence of floor eggs. Chapter One presents evidence of the ducks' preferences for highly enclosed nest boxes and nest boxes that contain an egg. Forcing ducks to lay on the floor by delaying the introduction of nest boxes for up to thirteen weeks past the point of lay was not found to affect nest box use or the preference for nest box enclosure. The nest choices discussed in this chapter were established based on individual preference tests. The study described in Chapter Two tested the effects of nest box enclosure and nest box to duck ratio on the frequency of floor laying among group-housed ducks. The hypothesis that increased nest box enclosure will decrease floor laying was rejected. Floor laying frequency did decrease with time and with increased nest box to duck ratio. While some ducks laid all of their eggs within nest boxes, 55% of ducks floor laid occasionally, indicating that floor laying is not reflective of the behavior of a subset of habitually floor laying individuals. Taken together these results suggest that nest box competition may contribute to the floor laying problem. However, as egg distributions were clumped, and not all nest boxes provided typically contained eggs, other social effects such as conspecific attraction are suggested to also play a role. To that effect, Chapter Three discusses tendency of ducks to enter occupied nest boxes. Such gregarious nesting behavior is found to be widespread among the ducks. However, gregarious nesting did not always result in ducks laying in a common box, and did not predict whether a duck laid in a box or on the pen floor. Taken together the three studies presented in this volume provide direction for managing the floor laying problem in the duck industry. Additionally, when discussed in light of nest choices of wild Mallards, from which Pekins were domesticated, they stimulate new questions about changes in nest site selection processes which may have taken place as a result of domestication, selective breeding, or management practices. |
