Elisabeth Quendler, Katharina Trieb, Sophie Schaffernicht and Alfred Nimmerichter
Today's society is increasingly demanding sustainable food production which is livestock-friendly, environmentally sound and user-friendly. To better achieve these goals, organic eggs are sometimes produced in mobile chicken coops. These are adjustable on organic grassland and therefor offer the chicken all-day free space to roam on surfaces with just very few droppings. The impacts of these mobile chicken coops, in particular their equipment, on the work done, have so far not been investigated.Therefore, the goal of this case study was to record the physical and mental workload of the daily activities in these stables. The data collection took place in an organic farm in Germany, which produced organic eggs with the mobile chicken coops 225 (Hühnermobil 225) and with mobile laying hen coops (Legehennemobil). The daily work in these stables was done by two male and two female study subjects aged 16 to 31 years. The working element method according to AUERNHAMMER (1976) was chosen to categorize the measurement results of the routine work and the HARVARD steptest was applied for the grading of the fitness. For the collection of data, the measuring device Movisens® was used, for the metrological recording of the heart rate and of the Baevsky stress index a qualitative questionnaire for the assessment of the individual stress sensation was developed. The work-related results were evaluated descriptively and analytically, by using the GLM (Generalized Linear Model) and the LR (Logistic Regression).Among the study subjects, three had a very good and one of them a good level of fitness. In daily routine work, a mean heart rate of 122 bpm was achieved during work in the mobile chicken coops 225 (Hühnermobil 225) and 120 bpm in the mobile laying hen coops (Legehennenmobil) which was above the continuance power rating of 110 bpm. The male subjects were below 103 bpm and the female subjects with 137 bpm above the endurance limit. The heart rate differed significantly according to activity, passage, gender and stable model. Similar results are confirmed by studies on other agricultural enterprises, so that these can be considered valid. A reduction of the physical and of the mental workload, in particular in order to be able to work in a socially sustainable manner under the long-term endurance limit can be achieved through work design (adaptation of other work aides) as well as breaks, slower pace of work and division of labor.
Work input, heart rate, stress, strain;