Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD) is a contagious, fatal viral disease that affects the beak, feathers, and immune system of wild and captive old and New World Psittacine. PBFD is characterized by feather abnormalities, beak and claw deformities and eventually dying as a result of immunosuppressant. The disease is caused by member of the genus circovirus in the family Circoviridae. The...

The beaks of Darwin's finches and other birds are among the best known examples of adaptive evolution. Beak morphology is usually interpreted in relation to its critical role in feeding. However, the beak also plays an important role in preening, which is the first line of defence against harmful ectoparasites such as feather lice, fleas, bugs, flies, ticks and feather mites. Here, we show a fe...

Commercial laying hens are prone to injurious pecking (IP), a common multifactorial problem. A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design assessed the effects of breed (Lohmann Brown Classic (L) or Hyline Brown (H)), beak treatment (infra-red treated (T) or not (NT)), and environment (extra enrichment (EE) or no extra enrichment (NE)) on mortality, behaviour, feather cover, and beak shape. Hens were allocated ...