Use of horizontal and angled perches by broiler chickens

LeVan, Nancy Fiscus; Estévez, Inma; Stricklin, W. R.

doi:10.1016/s0168-1591(99)00059-3

Cited by 55 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…The design of the perches within this study, in particular the low height at which the horizontal perching bar was placed above the ground (Davies and Weeks, 1995), may have facilitated easy access. The increase in the frequency of perching with age agrees with the results of previous research (Le Van et al, 2000) and was probably owing to the increase in ease with which birds could access perches as they grew.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

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The influence of providing perches and string on activity levels, fearfulness and leg health in commercial broiler chickens

Bailie¹,

O’Connell²

2015

Animal

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The aim of this study was to assess the effect of providing environmental enrichment in the form of perches and string on the behaviour and welfare of commercial broiler chickens. Houses containing~23 000 broiler chickens were assigned to one of four treatments in a 2 × 2 factorial design. Treatments involved two levels of access to perches (P) (present (24/house) ' +P' or absent ' −P') and two levels of access to string (S) (present (24/house) ' +S' or absent ' −S'). All houses contained windows, and 30 straw bales were provided from day 10 of the rearing cycle. Treatments were applied in one of four houses on a single farm, and were replicated over four production cycles. Behaviour and leg health were observed in weeks 3 to 5 of the rearing cycle. Production performance and environmental parameters were also measured. There was an interaction between perches and age in the percentage of birds observed lying, with higher percentages of birds observed lying in the +P treatment than in the −P treatment during weeks 4 and 5. There was also a significant interaction between string and age in the percentage of birds observed in locomotion, with higher percentages observed in locomotion in the −S treatment than in the +S treatment during weeks 4 and 5. There was also an interaction between string and age in average gait scores, with lower gait scores in the +S treatment than in the −S treatment during weeks 3 and 5 but not within week 4. Daytime observations showed that perches and strings were used frequently, with one bout of perching occurring approximately every 80 s/perch, and one bout of pecking at string occurring every 78 s/string on average. There was a significant effect of age on use of perches (P < 0.001) and string (P < 0.001), with perching peaking during week 5 and string pecking peaking during week 3. We conclude that commercial broilers in windowed houses with access to straw bales display an interest in additional enrichment stimuli in the form of perches and string, and therefore that these stimuli have the potential to improve welfare. In addition, provision of string as a pecking device appeared to positively influence walking ability. However, this effect was numerically small, was only shown in certain weeks and was not reflected in the other leg health measure (latency to lie). The results also showed an apparent negative effect of string and perches on the activity levels of birds (recorded away from the immediate vicinity of these enrichments) towards the end of the production cycle. These results emphasise the need for further research into optimum design and layout of enrichment stimuli for modern broilers in windowed houses to ensure that their provision leads to clear welfare benefits.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…Le Martrenchar et al, 2000;Van et al, 2000;Pettit-Riley and Estevez, 2001), which leads to difficulties in making comparisons with this study. However, perches appeared to be used frequently in the current study, with a bout of perching occurring approximately every 99 s on each perch.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 84%

The influence of providing perches and string on activity levels, fearfulness and leg health in commercial broiler chickens

Bailie¹,

O’Connell²

2015

Animal

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“…Maintaining balance while perching, and stepping onto and over perches exercise leg muscles and joints in a way that is different from simply walking. Wing and breast muscles are also utilized while walking and balancing on a perch (Newberry and Hall 1990; Le Van et al 2000). Because of its attractiveness to broiler chickens for pecking and scratching behaviours, sand bedding could be utilized for exercise of body muscles (Shields et al 2004).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of Enriched Housing Design on Broiler Performance, Welfare, Chicken Meat Composition and Serum Cholesterol

Şimşek¹,

Dalkiliç²,

Çiftçi³

et al. 2009

Acta Vet. Brno

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This experiment was conducted to determine the effects of enrichment housing design on performance, selected welfare indicators, chicken meat composition and serum cholesterol concentration of broiler chicken.For this purpose, 480 Ross-308 chicks were assigned to two groups, Control and Test, each with 4 replications. The pens of the Test Group were enriched with perches and sand bedding. At the end of the study, 8 males and 8 females whose live weights were close to the group average from each group were slaughtered. Their blood was collected and serum was separated. For chemical analysis of the chicken meat, whole carcasses of 4 males and 4 females, and half of the breast and left thigh from the remaining 4 males and 4 females were collected. In the carcass group, whole carcass with its bones was minced, whereas in the other groups breast and tight meat were separated from the bones and minced in a meat grinder, homogenized with an electronic mixer, then flash frozen (-40 °C, 8-10 h) and stored (-20 °C, 3-4 weeks) until analysed.There was no significant difference between the groups in body weight, daily weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion and survivability. Litter moisture of the sand bedding was lower than that of the wood shavings. Contact dermatitis of hocks was reduced in the Test Group (P < 0.05). Length, width, bone mineral content (BMC) and bone mineral density (BMD) of the left tibiotarsus were similar between groups. The protein ratio of thigh meat was higher (P < 0.01), and fat ratio of the meat was lower (P < 0.05) in the Test Group. Enriched housing design increased serum HDL cholesterol level and decreased thigh meat cholesterol level (P < 0.05).In conclusion, it was found that housing enriched with perches and sand bedding in addition to wood shavings bedding improved broiler welfare and meat quality. Broiler chickens, environmental enrichment, housing design, performance, welfare, meat quality, serum cholesterolThe appetite, feeding system, physical activity and genetic factors play important roles in fat storage (Hood 1983). Broiler chickens, depending on age and rearing conditions, spend most of the time resting (Weeks et al. 2000). There is a significant correlation between decreasing physical activity and adiposity (Ekelund et al. 2006). The lack of exercise is considered the main cause of leg weakness, and extreme durations of sitting on poor quality litter result in skin lesions on the breast and legs (Bessei 2006).Enviromental enrichments can increase activity and thus improve both physical and psychological well-being. Maintaining balance while perching, and stepping onto and over perches exercise leg muscles and joints in a way that is different from simply walking. Wing and breast muscles are also utilized while walking and balancing on a perch (Newberry and Hall 1990; Le Van et al. 2000). Because of its attractiveness to broiler chickens for pecking and scratching behaviours, sand bedding could be utilized for exercise of body muscles (Shields et al. 2004). In addition ...

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“…However, there are some problems with perch use in broilers. Broilers' perching behavior is not as common as in laying hens (Faure and Jones, 1982), probably due to their fast growth rate and therefore heavy body weight in early ages, and they tend to exercise less with advancing age (LeVan et al, 2000). Broilers' short life also may contribute to low perch use.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Theoretically, perches have the potential to reduce stocking density at floor level (Hughes and Elson, 1977), decrease health problems related with stocking density, such as reduced leg problems through exercise (Haye and Simons, 1978); improve heat stress conditions by allowing air flow beneath the perches to help thermoregulation of birds (LeVan et al, 2000); decrease aggression; and promote more even distribution of birds within the pen space (Ventura et al, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

2016

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Abstract. In the modern broiler industry, solutions are still being sought to improve conditions or eliminate problems related to issues such as animal welfare, health, and meat quality brought by intensive production systems. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to study effects of perching on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and footpad lesions (FPLs) in broiler chickens. A total of 300 broiler chicks (Ross 308) were distributed into control and perch groups with three replicates including equal numbers of males and females. The perch group contained two single perches in each pen.Analysis of camera records revealed that on average 7.36 % of the birds using perches. Perch use did not have any effect on growth performance (P > 0.05), but had a positive effect on FPLs (P < 0.001). Carcass yield and proportions of carcass parts were not affected by perch availability (P > 0.05). Thigh and breast meat color was less yellow (P < 0.005) in the perch group compared to the control group, where breast meat color was more red (P < 0.01). Birds in the perch group had brighter breast meat (P < 0.001). The weight of livers in the perch group was lower than in the control group (P < 0.01).These findings suggest that perch use has positive effect on FPLs. The reduction of redness in the breast could indicate that perch use may have a positive effect on breast inflammation. The potential positive effects of adapting perch use to intensive conditions should be further investigated.

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Use of horizontal and angled perches by broiler chickens

Cited by 55 publications

References 18 publications

The influence of providing perches and string on activity levels, fearfulness and leg health in commercial broiler chickens

The influence of providing perches and string on activity levels, fearfulness and leg health in commercial broiler chickens

Effects of Enriched Housing Design on Broiler Performance, Welfare, Chicken Meat Composition and Serum Cholesterol

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

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