Effects of barrier perches and density on broiler leg health, fear, and performance

Abstract

Deterioration of footpad and hock condition and increased stress are important welfare concerns in high-density broiler production. It has been argued that environmental enrichment may help address these issues. We hypothesized that increasing environmental complexity by providing access to barrier perches across a range of densities should improve footpad and hock health, reduce leg fluctuating asymmetry (FA), and mitigate fear in broilers without compromising bird performance. In this study, 2,088 one-day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to one of the following barrier and density treatment combinations over 4 replications: simple barrier, complex barrier, or no barrier (control) and low (8 birds/m(2)), moderate (13 birds/m(2)), or high (18 birds/m(2)) density. In wk 7, data were collected on average tibia width and length, FA of tibia width and tibia length, footpad and hock lesions, tonic immobility, feed conversion, final BW, and mortalities. Broilers at higher densities had more severe footpad (P < 0.0001) and hock lesions (P < 0.0001). Their tibias were also longer (P < 0.0001) and less symmetric in length (P < 0.05). The tibias of birds in complex barrier pens were more symmetric in length compared with controls (P < 0.05). Barrier treatment had no effect on hock lesions, although there was a trend for simple barriers to reduce the severity of footpad lesions compared with the control treatment (P = 0.089). Birds kept in simple barrier pens were more susceptible to tonic immobility induction (P < 0.05). Final BW, feed conversion, and mortalities were neither affected by stocking density nor by barrier inclusion. In conclusion, this study shows a negative effect of high density on broiler footpad health and FA. Although barrier perches did not appear to reduce fearfulness, the improvement in footpad health suggests that simple barriers may provide key welfare benefits to broiler chickens.

Effects of perch availability on performance, carcass characteristics, and footpad lesions in broilers

“…Furthermore, individual birds that were severely affected were observed to have reduced feed intake in the current study. Supporting the current results, perch availability tended to prevent FPLs in other studies (Ventura et al, 2010(Ventura et al, , 2012Hongchao et al, 2013). Although litter quality was not examined, a potential cause of a lower FPL score seems to be a better litter quality that can be related to the perch availability.…”

“…In the literature, litter quality (litter type, moisture, ammonia content) is at the beginning of the list of factors that can cause FPLs (Martland, 1985;Mayne, 2005). A limited improvement of footpad health by use of simple barrier perches has been reported (Ventura et al, 2010). Ventura et al (2012) reported that simple barrier perches could be a cheap and simple strategy to improve broiler health and welfare by creating a more complex environment to increase activity level and providing more space for resting, as well as decreasing aggression.…”

Effect of photoperiod length and light intensity on some welfare criteria, carcass, and meat quality characteristics in broilers

“…Foot pad dermatitis score was classified into three scales: scores less than 1 or equal to 0, good; scores less than 2 or equal to 1, fair; and scores equal to 2, poor. Hock burn data were classified into two scales: scores less than or equal to 1, good and scores greater than 1, poor (Ventura et al, 2010). The χ 2 test was used to determine the effect of photoperiod and light intensity groups on foot pad dermatitis, hock burn, and gait score data.…”

Cool perch availability improves the performance and welfare status of broiler chickens in hot weather

“…Hence, modern lines of broilers in commercial flocks are typically not provided with perches. The type of perch influences its use (Ventura et al, 2010) and approaching perch design from a different perspective may improve the propensity of birds to perch.…”