Behavioural time budgets of broiler chickens reared in varying light intensities

Alvino, Gina M.; Archer, Gregory S.; Mench, Joy A.

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2009.02.003

Cited by 81 publications

(79 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Daily variations in the intensity and quality of natural light may also have led to an increase in activity levels through the alteration of circadian and ultradian rhythms. It has been suggested that both the provision of increased intensity lighting (Alvino et al, 2009) and dynamic patterns of light intensity (Kristensen et al, 2006) may promote greater behavioural synchronization among flocks. This may increase opportunities for undisturbed resting during the dark period, which may lead to increased activity levels during the light period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of the provision of natural light and straw bales on activity levels and leg health in commercial broiler chickens

Bailie

Ball

O’Connell

2013

Animal

107

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The aim of this study was to assess the effect of natural light and straw bales on activity levels and leg health in commercial broiler chickens. Houses containing ,23 000 broiler chickens were assigned to one of four treatments in a 2 3 2 factorial design. Treatments involved two levels of access to natural light (NL) (present '1NL', or absent '2NL') and two levels of access to straw bales (SB) (present (30/house) '1SB', or absent '2SB'). All houses were windowed and artificially lit, and windows were shuttered where appropriate. Treatments were applied in one of the two houses on each of the two farms, and were replicated over four production cycles. Behaviour was observed in 2 to 6 weeks of the cycle. This involved observations of general behaviour and activity, gait scores (0 (perfect) to 5 (unable to walk)) and latency to lie (measured in seconds from encouraging a bird to stand). Production performance and environmental parameters were also measured. Average daytime light intensity and UV levels in the 1NL treatment were 85.2 lx and 3.37 mW/cm 2 , respectively, and in the 2NL treatment were 11.4 lx and 0 mW/cm 2 , respectively. Litter moisture levels were lower with NL treatment (P , 0.05), but were not affected by SB (P . 0.05). The percentage of time spent lying was significantly reduced by the provision of NL (P , 0.01), but not by SB (P . 0.05). There were three-way interactions between NL, SB and bird age on the percentage of time spent in locomotion (P , 0.05) and idling (P , 0.05). Both treatment factors had inconsistent effects on these parameters across different weeks. Levels of preening, resting and aggressive behaviour were not affected by treatment (P . 0.05). There was an interaction between treatments in average gait scores, with higher scores in the 2NL2SB treatment than in all other treatments, and higher in the 2NL1SB treatment than in the 1NL treatments (P , 0.001). Average latency to lie was significantly higher with NL (P , 0.001) and SB (P , 0.05). We conclude that environmental modifications have the potential to increase activity levels and improve the leg health of commercial broilers. The light environment appears to be particularly important in this respect.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of the provision of natural light and straw bales on activity levels and leg health in commercial broiler chickens

Bailie

Ball

O’Connell

2013

Animal

107

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“…Entretanto, observa-se que houve um aquecimento da primeira para a segunda repetição e da segunda para a terceira repetição. Silva et al, 2006;Salgado et al, 2007;Weeks & Nicol, 2006;Alvino et al, 2009). Observa-se na Tabela 2 que nas repetições 1 e 2 a frequência dos comportamentos comer e beber água foi maior do que na repetição 3, no entanto, o inverso aconteceu para o tempo médio de cada comportamento (Tabela 3).…”

Section: Resultsunclassified

Diferenças Comportamentais De Poedeiras Em Diferentes Ambientes Térmicos

Pereira

Batista²,

Sanches³

et al. 2015

EnergAgric

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RESUMO:O microclima no interior da instalação avícola é um dos fatores responsáveis pelo sucesso do empreendimento e afeta o comportamento da ave. Assim, o objetivo deste experimento foi verificar como o ambiente térmico proporcionado em aviários influencia o comportamento das poedeiras. O experimento foi realizado em galpões de escala reduzida e distorcida com poedeiras de idade entre 30 e 32 semanas. As aves foram criadas em boxes com cama de maravalha, poleiro e ninho, em dois grupos diferentes (6 e 12 aves) e duas densidades diferentes (774 e 1440 cm² ave-1). As frequências e tempos de expressão dos comportamentos foram registrados nos últimos três dias de cada semana em amostras de vídeo de 15 minutos. Os resultados indicam que o ambiente térmico influenciou o comportamento das aves e que a quantificação desses comportamentos possibilitam conhecer o bem-estar das poedeiras. PALAVRAS-CHAVE:ambiente enriquecido, bem estar animal, zootecnia de precisão. Behavioral differences of laying hens reared in different thermal environments ABSTRACT:The microclimate inside the poultry facility is one of the factors responsible for the success of the venture and affects the behavior of the bird. The objective of this experiment was to determine how the thermal environment provided in aviaries influences the behavior of laying hens. The experiment was conducted in sheds of distorted and reduced scale, with laying hens of ages between 30 and 32 weeks. The birds were raised in pens with wood shavings bedding, perch and nest in two different groups (6 and 12 birds) and two different densities (774 and 1440 cm ² bird-1). The behavior frequency and expressions were recorded during the last three days of each week in video samples of 15 minutes. The results indicate that the thermal environment influenced the behavior of the birds and the quantification of these allows the knowledge of the welfare of laying hens. KEYWORDS:Enrichment ambiance, animal welfare, and precision poultry production. 12 INTRODUÇÃOO bem-estar animal é aspecto importante para a produção avícola, sendo uma das exigências à comercialização em muitos dos mercados internacionais, além de agregar valor ao produto final. O conhecimento e o controle do microclima gerado no interior da instalação é um dos fatores responsáveis pelo sucesso do empreendimento (Pereira, 2011). Na literatura já é citado que há perdas produtivas, provenientes de galpões avícolas instalados em climas com temperaturas diárias elevadas, e que as mesmas são significativas, pois abrangem perdas diretas e indiretas. Salgado & Nääs (2010) Nesta região, faz-se necessária a redução de perdas produtivas, principalmente nas fases finais de criação, sobretudo quando provocada pelo estresse térmico (Tankson et al., 2001).A observação e a avaliação dos comportamentos expressos pelas aves pode ajudar na estimativa do bem estar das aves. De acordo com Becker (2002), o bem estar animal é avaliado de acordo com parâmetros fisiológicos e comportamentais. No caso de aves poedeiras, a utilização de caixas...

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“…Broilers exposed to different light intensities tend to show differences in some behaviors such as scratching; however, eating and drinking behaviors are not affected by light intensity (Kristensen et al, 2007). Alvino et al (2009) found that groups of broilers submitted to the same light intensity showed some degree of synchrony of behaviors and similar levels of inactivity. However, no effect of the light source on any of the evaluated behaviors was found in the present study.…”

Section: Broiler Surface Temperature and Behavioral Response Under Twmentioning

confidence: 93%

Broiler Surface Temperature and Behavioral Response under Two Different Light Sources

Araújo

Garcia

Nääs

et al. 2015

Rev. Bras. Cienc. Avic.

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Light is an important environmental variable for the regulation and control of broiler behavior. Some light sources may also add heat to the rearing environment, and indirectly affect the heat exchange between the birds and the environment. This study aimed at investigation the surface temperature and behavioral response of broilers reared in an environment with monochromatic light emitted diode (LED). Broilers were reared inside commercial dark houses under two treatments: fluorescent or LED light sources. Bird surface temperature and behavior was monitoredfrom the first day of grow-out. The houses were virtually divided in four quadrants, and the variables were monitored in the geometric center of each quadrant. Surface temperature results were mapped, behavioral responses were divided as normal and abnormal, and their interaction with light source was tested. Broiler surface temperature in both houses presented lack of homogeneity, independently of the light source. No effect of the light source on any of the evaluated behavior was found in the present study. The long life and energy savings obtained with the LED light source suggest its use in broiler production.

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Behavioural time budgets of broiler chickens reared in varying light intensities

Cited by 81 publications

References 19 publications

Influence of the provision of natural light and straw bales on activity levels and leg health in commercial broiler chickens

Influence of the provision of natural light and straw bales on activity levels and leg health in commercial broiler chickens

Diferenças Comportamentais De Poedeiras Em Diferentes Ambientes Térmicos

Broiler Surface Temperature and Behavioral Response under Two Different Light Sources

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