Broilers'toes asymmetry and walking ability assessment

Abstract

Brazilian poultry production nowadays occupies important position in world's economy due to its technological advancement, which associated to the development of genetic strains of high growth may cause deviation in the growth rate and harm production. Morphological asymmetry has been pointed as an indicator of welfare, as maintained the pattern that leads to balance, the broiler chicken would have its normal locomotion characteristics, freely reaching water and feed. Thus, the objective of this research was to verify the possibility of using morphological asymmetry for evaluating walking ability of broiler chicken. The research was done in the Technology Center, at UNICAMP. The experiment was made using biomechanics analysis and following, the toes were measured. Results found did not show asymmetry useful for determining the locomotion ability of broiler chicken. New studies are recommended in order to search for other correlations that might help to estimate at field level, the locomotion difficulties of broiler chicken.KEYWORDS: animal welfare, biomechanics, morphological asymmetry. ASSIMETRIA DOS PÉS DE FRANGOS DE CORTE E MEDIDA DE HABILIDADE LOCOMOTORA RESUMO:A avicultura brasileira ocupa hoje importante posto na economia mundial devido ao seu avanço tecnológico que, associado ao desenvolvimento de linhagens genéticas de alta conformidade, pode comprometer o bem-estar animal, causar desvios de crescimento e prejudicar a produção. A assimetria morfológica tem sido apontada como indicador de bem-estar em aves, uma vez que, mantido esse padrão que propicia equilíbrio, o frango teria suas características de locomoção de maneira normal, acessando livremente água e comida. O objetivo desta pesquisa foi verificar a possibilidade de utilizar assimetria morfológica para avaliar a habilidade locomotora de frangos de corte. O trabalho foi realizado no Centro de Tecnologia, UNICAMP. O experimento foi realizado utilizando análise biomecânica e, em seguida, os dedos dos pés foram medidos. Os resultados encontrados não apontaram que a assimetria pode ser utilizada para a determinação da capacidade locomotora de frangos de corte. Novos estudos são recomendados, a fim de procurar por outras correlações que possam ajudar a estimar, em campo, dificuldades de locomoção em frangos de corte. PALAVRAS-CHAVE:bem-estar animal, biomecânica, assimetria morfológica.Broilers' toes asymmetry and walking ability assesmentEng.

How Are Information Technologies Addressing Broiler Welfare? A Systematic Review Based on the Welfare Quality® Assessment

“…Image technologies have been used to evaluate broiler behaviour under different light intensities [29], under different thermal conditions [27,30], under distinct stocking densities [31,32], under different gait scores [33], and during their slaughter [34,35]. Additionally, digital video recording was used to help the development of methods and algorithms to detect lameness in broiler chickens [36][37][38][39][40][41][42] and to analyse behaviour of isolated chicks [43]. It was also used to assess short-term feeding behaviours [44] and to analyse possible changes in behaviour of animals using a tag to monitor their movement [45].…”

“…This IT was identified in three papers (5.3% of total publications). The force-measurement platform was part of the IT that aimed to study the walking ability of broiler chickens [40][41][42]. In a similar way, kinematic technologies, which were present in two publications (3.5% of total publications), were also utilized to study gait abnormalities by producing and analysing 3D images [56] and by utilizing a system that involved the use of a force-measurement platform [42].…”