Date of Award
January 2015
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Department
Animal Science
First Advisor
Maja M Makagon
Committee Member 1
Donald C Lay, Jr.
Committee Member 2
Patricia Y Hester
Abstract
Reduced walking ability is one of the most important welfare concerns facing the commercial duck industry. This is due to the likelihood that impaired walking is associated with pain, and may inhibit a duck’s ability to reach needed resources, such as food and water. Additionally, ducks with severe walking impairments are culled from the flock, which poses an economic challenge for the producer. Therefore, strategies for evaluating reduced walking ability are important for monitoring the prevalence of affected ducks within a flock. Currently, gait scoring is the most popular method for assessing walking ability on-farm. Gait scoring requires an observer to rank walking ability by assigning a categorical description of walking behavior to a duck as it walks on a flat surface (severity of reduced walking ability increases with category number). These systems are criticized for being subjective and their validity is often questioned. Further, observed differences in gait, alone, do not indicate whether a duck’s welfare is impacted.
Recommended Citation
Byrd, Christopher James, "Evaluating the Walking Ability of Pekin Ducks Using A Treadmill Performance Test" (2015). Open Access Theses. 1096.
https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses/1096