Behaviour, welfare and performance of broiler chicks reared on different litter materials [electronic resource].

Includes references.

Two hundred forty day-old Ross broiler chicks were used in this experiment. Chicks were weighed on arrival and randomly assigned to six litter treatments (20 birds per pen) with two replicates for each treatment. The litter treatment consists of six different litter types: Wood shavings (WS), whole rice straw (straw), sand, rice straw covered by a layer of wood shavings (WS + straw), sand covered with wood shavings (WS + sand) and sand covered by a layer of rice straw (straw + sand). Behavioral observation was carried out twice daily, two days a week for 6 consecutive weeks. Body weight (BW) and Feed intake per pen were measured weekly, from which body weight gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were measured. At 42 days of age, welfare parameters were measured including fear, stress, fluctuating asymmetry, feather score and leg health and problems. Also, some carcass traits and moisture content of the litter were assessed. Dead birds were recorded for each treatment. Results revealed that birds reared on (WS + sand) exhibited significantly higher feeding behavior, BW and BWG than birds reared on straw and (straw + sand). Bedding types had no significant effect (p> .05) on feeding behavior and other productive performance when litters were used separately (WS, straw or sand). Standing and walking behaviors decreased on sand and wood shavings whereas sitting increased.

Summary in Arabic.