*4.3. Body Condition*

The examined flocks were in good condition before and after transportation, as measured by the use of the sum of the body parts that were individually scored for plumage condition and integument injuries [43]. With regard to the temporal effect (before and after transportation), we noted a slight improvement to both the plumage and integuments. The main reason is likely to be an insufficient sample size, to ensure that representative estimates and observer deviations are conceivable.

Birds lose weight overnight, even without transportation, and this has potential side effects such as increased corticosterone levels or heat stress, as results from our control flock show. Birds of the control flock were able to move around in the winter garden without access to food and water, matching the lack of these resources for transported birds. "Time in winter garden" for the control flock was 11 h, and this is thus based on the "time in plastic crates" of Variant I. Several studies describe a diurnal and seasonal weight fluctuation in wild birds (e.g., [44–47]) with amplitudes of 5–15% [44,45,47]. The weight loss of the hens of our control flock (−5.9%) falls within this range. However, a mean loss of −3.9% ± 1.8% overnight, as measured for the transported hens of Variant I, is lower than the loss measured in wild birds. Amplitudes in winter (long and colder nights) are higher than in summer [47]. The mean temperature during transport of the studied flocks was 16 ◦C, whereas the mean outside temperature for the control flock was 19.5 ◦C. Unfortunately, none of our other study experiments were performed on the control flock. Explanations therefore remain speculative. Scholtyssek et al. [48] found an greater loss of weight in broilers with increasing durations of transportation (1.3%, 2.3%, and 3.1% after transit durations of 1.5 h, 3.0 h and 4.5 h, respectively) whereas another study did not find weight differences between the control and 4 h transported treatment groups [40].
