The Effect of Rearing System on Plumage Quality and Foot-Pad Dermatitis in Guinea Fowls and Pheasants

Abstract

This study aims to determine welfare parameters such as FPD and PQ scores at different slaughter ages in Barn and Free-Range Rearing Systems for Guinea Fowl and Pheasants. The birds randomly distributed with half of 200 Pheasant and 200 Guinea Fowl chicks were reared in both barn and free-range systems. Game birds were examined for both foot-pad dermatit (FPD) score and feather score (plumage quality (PQ)) at 6, 12, 14, 16 and 18 weeks of age. The litter moisture content was also measured at 14, 16 and 18 weeks of the growing period. In guinea fowls, litter moisture content, or litter dry matter content, differed significantly according to the rearing system (p0.05). In terms of FPD, there was no difference in guinea fowl according to the rearing system, gender and slaughter age, but there was a difference in pheasants according to the slaughter age. In guinea fowl, the head area feather quality was lower than the barn system (p