The effect of intermittent feeding and cold water on performance and carcass traits of broilers reared under daily heat stress ABSTRACT Objective: This study aimed to determine the effect of intermittent feeding and cold water on performance and carcass traits in broiler chickens between 4 to 6 wk of age with daily high temperature. Methods: Broilers were assigned to four treatment groups according to a 2x2 factorial design between 22 to 42 d of age (80 broilers per treatment, 4 replications). Broilers were divided into two main groups as feeding type (ad-libitum (AL) and intermittent (IF) for 6 h daily) and subgroups as water temperature (normal (NW): 24.9 o C and cold (CW): 16.4 o C). Heat treatment was applied between 11.00 to 17.00 h daily between 22 to 42 d of age. Results: Live weight at 6th wk was not affected by feeding type and water temperature, but the live weight was significantly higher in IF chickens at the 5th wk (p <0.05). Average weekly gain of IF broiler chickens were higher compared to AL group at 4, 5, and 6 wk of age (p <0.05). Although feeding type did not affect feed intake in 4 and 5th wk, feed intake was higher in IF chickens at 6th wk (p <0.01). In addition, feeding type and water temperature did not affect feed conversion ratio and interactions were not significant (p >0.05). Water temperature had no significant effect on heart, liver, gizzard, and abdominal fat percentages (p >0.05). Conclusion: It is concluded that IF increased the average weekly gain in chickens reared under daily heat stress for 6 h between 22 to 42 d of age. IF in hot environmental conditions slightly increased performance without adversely affecting health, welfare, and physiological traits, whereas CW implementation had no significant effect on performance. It can also be said that IF suppresses a sudden increase in body temperature depending on age and live weight.

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This study was carried out to determine the effects of different levels of slatted floor applications on some early behavioral characteristics of broiler chickens. In this study, male-female mixed 600 fast-growing broiler chicks (Ross308) were used. The experiment consisted of five treatment groups with 120 chicks each (7 chicks/m2): fully littered, fully slatted, ½ littered+½ slatted, 1/3 littered+2/3 slatted, 2/3 littered+1/3 slatted. In the study, the feeding, drinking, resting, aggregation, other behaviors, and slatted floor preferences of the chicks were evaluated three times a day (at 9.00, 13.00, and 17.00 h) at 2, 5, 9 and 11 days of age. Each behavioral trait was expressed as a percentage of the total number of chicks showing the relevant behavior at the pen level. Different floor designs significantly affected the chicks' feeding, resting, aggregation behavior, and preference for being on the slatted floor (P < 0.05). Feeding behavior was higher in chicks reared on the fully slatted floor than in the others (P < 0.001). The percentage of chicks showing resting behavior was highest in the 2/3 littered+1/3 slatted floor application (P = 0.001). The 64.42% of the chicks reared in 2/3 slatted, 47.53% of those reared in ½ slatted, and 36.38% of those raised in 1/3 slatted preferred the use of the slatted floor. The percentage of chicks showing feeding behavior was highest at 5 (16.12%) and 2 d-old (15.73%) (P = 0.001). Resting behavior was highest at 2 (78.72%), 5 (76.89%), and 9 (72.82%) days of age (P < 0.001). In conclusion, this study revealed that different floor designs affect some behavioral characteristics in the early chick period. Since it is known that early rearing conditions affect later performance in broilers, slatted floor systems with higher feeding behavior can be an effective tool for better performance in broiler production.