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The effect of an environmental enrichment device - the PECKABLOCK ™ - on the behaviour and growth performance of broiler chicks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 November 2017

J.H. Guy
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, U.K.
N.R. Guy
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, University of Newcastle, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, U.K.
R.A. Phillips
Affiliation:
Breckland International Limited, Shrublands House, Carbrooke, Norfolk, IP25 6TJ, U.K.
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Extract

Rearing houses for broiler poultry breeders are relatively barren buildings which provide for the basic environmental comfort and nutritional needs of the birds, but offer little in the way of additional novel stimuli (FAWC, 1998). The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) recommends that environmental enrichment should be available in rearing houses. The Peckablock is a cereal-based enrichment device which is suspended in front of broiler breeders and provides birds with a novel material at which to peck, mimicking their natural behaviour. The manufacturers claim that this stimulus, plus the reward of cereal grains that are loosened and have fallen into the undertray, can help to ameliorate the potential problem of cannibalism. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of providing Peckablocks on the behaviour and performance of commercial broiler chicks at two different levels of light intensity.

Type
Poster Presentations
Copyright
Copyright © The British Society of Animal Science 2000

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References

FAWC, 1998. Report on the Welfare of Broiler Breeders. Farm Animal Welfare Council. Booklet No.: PB 3907, Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, London.Google Scholar
Hughes, B.O. and Duncan, I.J.H. 1972. The influence of strain and environmental factors upon feather pecking and cannibalism in the fowl. British Poultry Science 13 :525547.Google Scholar