Applied research as interplay between farm and group level: What attracts laying hens to the hen run?

Summary

On-farm research is well established in organic farming. The holistic approach considers the complexity of a farm, and the findings can be imple-mented immediately. As the experiments are often performed on single farms the results are difficult to transfer to other locations. Controlled experiments with animals on group level with representative sam-ples investigate single factors and lead to reliable and well-founded results. However, they are often far away from implementation into agricultural practise. Applied research requires an interplay of on farm research and controlled experiments. A series of ethological research work at research institute of organic agriculture in Switzerland should show how this interplay may take place.