Performance, Behaviour and Welfare Aspects of Broilers as Affected by Different Colours of Artificial Light

Abstract

This experiment examined the effect of four colours of artificial light (ALC) on performance, behaviour, water/feed intake (WFI) and welfare of broilers. Day old broiler chicks (Cobb) were assigned into six brooders for either red (RD:650-750nm), white (WT:325-750nm), green (GR:530-545nm) or blue (BL:450-470nm) ALCs from 1-35d (20lux,9hrs/day at growing stage). Complete Randomize Design was adopted with 6 replicates. Water and Feed provided ad libitum. Daily WFI; weekly weight gain (WG) and behaviour recorded. Common behaviours (21) were evaluated by scan sampling method. Welfare indicators; foot pad dermatitis, breast blisters and hock burning damage scores were determined. Lameness was assessed by gait score and latency to lie (LTL) tests. Six birds/ treatment were evaluated for carcass parameters. Significantly (p<0.05) highest WG (365.33±12.07g/bd/ week) was recorded in RD compared to other treatments at 21d. Also Significantly highest WI (102.07±49.01 g/bd/day) at 21d and FI(226.48±27.47) at 28d were recorded by RD treated birds. ALC had no effect on final body weight (BW), feed conversion ratio (FCR), water feed ratio (W:F ratio), welfare indices, mortality rate, carcass parameters, gait score and LTL. Overall, the dominant behaviour was lying that showed 64.15% of the total time budget. Wing flapping (26%) and eating (6.98%) received 2 nd ,3 rd places, respectively. ALC significantly (p<0.05) affected sleeping behaviour (SL) where RD treated birds performed the highest (0.53%±0.29) and GR treated birds showed lowest (0.31%±0.19) SL. Birds were more active under RD, WT and GR compared with BL in the night as lowest eating and walking performed by BL treated birds. Highest dust bathing shown by the birds under GR during morning at the 4 th week (0.02%±0.02).Though ALC had no effect on eating, ALC*night time interaction demonstrated increased (p<0.05) eating in RD and WT at night. These data indicate that rearing ALC affected bird behaviour than growth. Providing RD colour light up to 21d had beneficial effects on weight gain.

Impact of different light colors in behavior, welfare parameters and growth performance of Fayoumi broiler chickens strain

“…Litter scratching was highest in blue light color chambers in the current study, which was supported by the results obtained by Senaratna et al, (2011) who stated that the litter scratching was usually associated with eating behavior (Senaratna et al, 2011) unlike chicken reared under blue light color were more comfortable and calmer than others due to the significant increase in sleeping, sitting and idling behaviors. This study supported the theory that blue color created a calming effect on birds, where the frequencies of physical activities was lower in chambers lit with blue light.…”

“…Therefore, selecting optimal lighting colors allow birds to live a normal life. Previous studies mentioned that lighting treatments had insignificant effects on each of plumage and foot conditions (Farghly and Mahrose, 2012;Senaratna et al, 2011) which was comparable with our results.…”

“…In contrast, Senaratna et al, (2011) stated that light colors had no effect on eating behavior. Kinetic behaviors (walking, flying and head movement) were significantly affected by light colors, where chicken was more active under red light color than other colors (Senaratna et al, 2012;Son and Velmurugu 2009).…”

“…After scanning, the numbers of Fayoumi chickens were counted in the observed chambers to calculate the frequencies of various behaviours/one hour. These numbers were used to record the activities of chicken according to Senaratna et al, (2011) in all experimental groups.…”

Red Color Light at Different Intensities Affects the Performance, Behavioral Activities and Welfare of Broilers

“…Red light (780 to 622 nm) showed numerous potential benefits in Broilers. On a one hand higher weight gain (WG) could be achieved when providing during early stages ( Prayitno et al, 1997 ; Senaratna et al, 2011 ). On the other hand, the highest preference was recorded for RL especially in the night compared to green, blue and white color lights ( Senaratna et al, 2010 ; 2012 ).…”