Dietary and Environmental Factors Affecting Skin Strength in Broiler Chickens

Christensen, K.; Zimmermann, N. G.; Wyatt, C. L.; Goodman, T.; Buhr, R. J.; Twining, P. F.

doi:10.3382/ps.0730224

Cited by 24 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Meyer et al (2003a) also reported that the average fat-free skin weight of male ostriches was heavier than that of female ostriches. It was found that male broiler chickens had slightly thinner skins, but that the thickness of the dermal layer was higher in males than in females (Christensen et al, 1994). Males also had stronger skins than females.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Effect of age on leather and skin traits of slaughter ostriches

Cloete¹,

Schalkwyk²,

Hoffman³

et al. 2004

SA J. An. Sci.

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Little is known about the factors affecting leather and skin traits in ostriches. The effect of age on physical skin traits of slaughter ostriches was consequently investigated. Forty skins representing slaughter ages ranging from five to 14 months were selected to represent means of the respective age groups with regard to skin size and slaughter weight. It was evident that leather thickness increased with age. A similar tendency was observed for tensile strength. The number of nodules/dm² declined by 2.8 nodules per month increase in slaughter age. Average nodule diameter increased at a rate of 0.08 mm per month of age. The number of nodules/dm² decreased towards body positions situated nearer to the ventral aspect of the ostrich (upper leg and lower flank). Positions nearer to the centre back had more nodules/dm². The nodules on the neck and mid-crown area were smaller in diameter than those situated on the other body positions, with little difference between the upper leg, lower flank and butt positions. Repeatability estimates for the physical skin traits were in the medium to high range. Age thus affects physical leather traits to a lesser extent, apart from leather thickness. It does, however, exert an important influence on the nodule traits that were considered, and needs to be considered in the marketing of ostrich leather.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 93%

Effect of age on leather and skin traits of slaughter ostriches

Cloete¹,

Schalkwyk²,

Hoffman³

et al. 2004

SA J. An. Sci.

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“…Male broiler chickens are more likely to develop breast blisters (Proudfoot et al, 1979) even when males and females of the same body weight are compared (Gyles et al, 1957;Stephenson et al, 1960). Differences between sexes in the propensity to develop breast blisters as well as scabby hip may be due to differences in onset of feathering (Siegel et al, 1957) or in the quality of the skin; however, males have been found to have stronger skin than female birds (Christensen et al, 1994). Scabby hip is not related to wet litter, unlike contact dermatitis, and is more readily visible than cellulitis (Norton, 1997).…”

Section: Breast Blisters In Broilersmentioning

confidence: 94%

Breast blisters in groups of slow-growing broilers in relation to strain and the availability and use of perches

Nielsen¹

2004

Br. Poultry Sc.

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1. The relationship between perching behaviour, availability of perches and the incidence and severity of breast blisters in broilers was investigated together with a comparison between two slow-growing broiler strains. 2. Sixteen single strain groups (n = 60) of Labresse and i657 broilers were subjected throughout the experiment to one of three perch availabilities: 15 cm per bird (Labresse and i657), 7.5 cm per bird (i657 only), and 0 cm per bird (i657 only) with 4 replicates per treatment. The birds were housed indoors from one day old, and at 43 d of age 52 birds from each group were moved to outdoor housing facilities with access to grass-covered outdoor areas until slaughter at 84 d of age. 3. The use of perches was monitored via video recordings throughout the experimental period. The severity of breast blisters was recorded on a scale from 0 to 2 at slaughter. 4. Groups of i657 with 15 cm perch per bird used these more than groups with 7.5 cm perch per bird (19% vs 8% of birds perching at midnight). A positive association between access to perches and severe breast blisters (score 2) was found in the groups of i657, with odds ratios of 3.1 and 3.4 for 7.5 and 15.0 cm per bird, respectively, relative to the no-perch treatment. 5. Labresse were more likely to develop breast blisters than i657 (odds ratio 3.5), but used the perches less (0.1 vs 9.5 birds perching at midnight) and weighed less (2011 g vs 2246 g) than i657. 6. Males had a higher incidence of breast blisters than females (odds ratio 12.2), and this was most prominent in the Labresse strain (odds ratio 40.0). 7. In some broiler strains access to perches may be associated with an increase in the occurrence of severe breast blisters, but strain and sex of broiler chickens appear to have a much larger influence than access to perches on the incidence of breast blisters.

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“…Thickness and area of dermis were greater under normal TEM and G; although it is not known why reduced G and elevated TEM induced similar dermis development, it was also observed that dermis development of ducks coming from eggs incubated with normal TEM was negatively affected by hypoxia conditions (reduced G). The dermal layer is especially important since this is where skin collagen is located and is, therefore, directly related to skin resistance to breakage [32,33]. On overall papillae structure (Table 5), only height was affected (P<0.001) by a treatment interaction.…”

Section: Hatchability Bw Residual Yolk and Footpad Skin Developmenmentioning

confidence: 98%

Effects of eggshell conductance and incubation temperatures on duck footpad development

Costa¹,

Oviedo-Rondón

Wineland

et al. 2015

Journal of Applied Poultry Research

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SUMMARYFootpad dermatitis (FPD) is a major animal welfare and economical concern. A field trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of eggshell conductance (G) and incubation temperature profiles (TEM) on duck footpad skin structure at hatch and 35 d of age, and their influence on probability to observe FPD scores under commercial conditions. A total of 10,000 Pekin duck eggs were assigned to 4 treatments, resulting from a combination of two G, reduced and normal, and two TEM, elevated and normal. At hatch, 6 ducklings from each treatment were weighed and footpad skin samples collected for histological processing. The remaining ducklings were placed in a commercial house. At 35 d, 5 drakes and 5 hens from each treatment combination were weighed and classified for FPD using a 3-level scale to determine probabilities to observe each score using logistic regression. Additionally, footpads of 7 ducks per treatment combination were sampled for histological analysis. Data were analyzed as a CRD with 2×2 factorial arrangement of treatments. There were no effects of treatments on BW at hatch and 35 d. High TEM and reduced G increased residual yolk. On footpad skin layer measurements, an interaction effect was observed on dermis length and area and total papillae height at hatch. At 35 d reduced G ducks had more area of epidermis than normal G. Additionally, either elevated TEM or reduced G tended to increase the probability (P<0.10) of having FPD. The stratus corneum was not affected by treatments. In conclusion, G and incubation TEM have an effect on footpad skin structure development during embryo development, and this might be related to FPD in ducks at market age.

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Dietary and Environmental Factors Affecting Skin Strength in Broiler Chickens

Cited by 24 publications

References 15 publications

Effect of age on leather and skin traits of slaughter ostriches

Effect of age on leather and skin traits of slaughter ostriches

Breast blisters in groups of slow-growing broilers in relation to strain and the availability and use of perches

Effects of eggshell conductance and incubation temperatures on duck footpad development

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