Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-8zxtt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-10T21:41:48.678Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

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

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2014

C. L. Bailie  and
N. E. O’Connell
C. L. Bailie*
Affiliation:
Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland
N. E. O’Connell
Affiliation:
Institute for Global Food Security, School of Biological Sciences, Queens University Belfast, Belfast BT9 7BL, Northern Ireland
*
†E-mail: c.bailie@qub.ac.uk
Get access

Abstract

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.

Keywords

behaviourbroiler chickensleg healthperchesstring
Type
Research Article
Information
animal , Volume 9 , Issue 4 , April 2015 , pp. 660 - 668
Copyright
© The Animal Consortium 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arnould, C and Faure, JM 2004. Use of pen space and activity of broiler chickens reared at two different densities. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 87, 155–170.Google Scholar
Arnould, C, Bizeray, D, Faure, JM and Leterrier, C 2004. Effects of the addition of sand and string to pens on use of space, activity, tarsal angulations and bone composition in broiler chickens. Animal Welfare 13, 87–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailie, CL, Ball, MEE and O’Connell, NE 2013. Influence of the provision of natural light and straw bales on activity levels and leg health in commercial broiler chickens. Animal 7, 618–626.Google Scholar
Berg, C and Sanotra, GS 2003. Can a modified latency-to-lie test be used to validate gait-scoring results in commercial broiler flocks?. Animal Welfare 12, 655–659.Google Scholar
Bessei, W 1992b. The behaviour of broilers under intensive management conditions. Archiv fur Geflugelkunde 56, 1–7.Google Scholar
Bizeray, D, Estevez, I, Leterrier, C and Faure, JM 2002. Effects of increasing environmental complexity on the physical activity of broiler chickens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 79, 27–41.Google Scholar
Bizeray, D, Leterrier, C, Constantin, P, Picard, M and Faure, JM 2000. Early locomotor behaviour in genetic stocks of chickens with different growth rates. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 68, 231–242.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Corr, SA, Gentle, MJ, McCorquodale, CC and Bennett, D 2003. The effect of morphology on the musculoskeletal system of the modern broiler. Animal Welfare 12, 145–157.Google Scholar
Danbury, TC, Weeks, CA, Chambers, JP, Waterman-Pearson, AE and Kestin, SC 2000. Preferential selection of the analgesic drug carprofen by lame broiler chickens. Veterinary Record 146, 307–311.Google Scholar
Davies, HC and Weeks, CA 1995. Effect of age and leg weakness on perching behaviour of broilers. British Poultry Science 36, 838.Google Scholar
Fanatico, AC, Pillai, PB, Hestor, PY, Falcone, C, Mench, JA, Owens, CM and Emmert, JL 2008. Performance, livability, and carcass yield of slow- and fast-growing chicken genotypes fed low-nutrient or standard diets and raised indoors or with outdoor access. Poultry Science 87, 1012–1021.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hall, AL 2001. The effect of stocking density on the welfare and behaviour of broiler chickens reared commercially. Animal Welfare 10, 23–40.Google Scholar
Harms, R and Simpson, C 1975. Biotin deficiency as a possible cause of swelling and ulceration of foot pads. Poultry Science 54, 1711–1713.Google Scholar
Hester, PY 1994. The role of environment and management on leg abnormalities in meat-type fowl. Poultry Science 73, 904–915.Google Scholar
Jones, RB 1996. Fear and adaptability in poultry. World’s Poultry Science Journal 52, 131–174.Google Scholar
Jones, RB and Waddington, D 1992. Modification of fear in domestic chicks, Gallus gallus domesticus, via regular handling and early environmental enrichment. Animal Behaviour 43, 1021–1033.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, RB, Carmichael, NL and Rayner, E 2000. Pecking preferences and predispositions in domestic chicks: implications for the development of environmental enrichment devices. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 69, 291–392.Google Scholar
Julian, RJ 1998. Rapid growth problems: ascites and skeletal deformities in broilers. Poultry Science 77, 1773–1780.Google Scholar
Kells, A, Dawkins, MS and Borja, MC 2001. The effect of a ‘freedom food’ enrichment on the behaviour of broilers on commercial farms. Animal Welfare 10, 347–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kestin, SC, Knowles, TG, Tinch, AE and Gregory, NG 1992. Prevalence of leg weakness in broiler chickens and its relationship with genotype. Veterinary Record 131, 190–194.Google Scholar
Le Van, NF, Estevez, I and Stricklin, WR 2000. Use of horizontal and angled perches by broiler chickens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 65, 349–365.Google Scholar
Maddocks, SA, Cuthill, IC, Goldsmith, AR and Sherwin, CM 2001. Behavioural and physiological effects of absence of ultraviolet wavelengths for domestic chicks. Animal Behaviour 62, 1013–1019.Google Scholar
Martrenchar, A, Huonnic, D, Cotte, JP, Boilletot, E and Morisse, JP 2000. Influence of stocking density, artificial dusk and group size on the perching behaviour of broilers. British Poultry Science 41, 125–130.Google Scholar
McAdie, TM, Keeling, LJ, Blokhuis, HJ and Jones, RB 2005. Reduction in feather pecking and improvement of feather condition with the presentation of a string device to chickens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 93, 67–80.Google Scholar
Newberry, RC 1995. Environmental enrichment: increasing the biological relevance of captive environments. Applied Animal Behavioural Science 44, 229–243.Google Scholar
Newberry, RC, Hunt, JR and Gardiner, EE 1988. The influence of light intensity on behaviour and performance of broiler chickens. Poultry Science 67, 1020–1025.Google Scholar
Olkowski, AA, Laarveld, B, Wojnarowicz, C, Chirino-Trejo, M, Chapman, D, Wysokinski, TW and Quaroni, L 2011. Biochemical and physiological weaknesses associated with the pathogenesis of femoral bone degeneration in broiler chickens. Avian Pathology 40, 639–650.Google Scholar
Pettit-Riley, R and Estevez, I 2001. Effects of density on perching behavior of broiler chickens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 71, 127–140.Google Scholar
Reiter, K and Bessei, W 1998a. Effect of locomotor activity on bone development and leg disorders in broilers. Archiv Fur Geflugelkunde 62, 247–253. (Abstr.).Google Scholar
Reiter, K and Bessei, W 1998b. Possibilities to reduce leg disorders in broilers and turkeys. Archiv Fur Geflugelkunde 62, 145–149. (Abstr.).Google Scholar
RSPCA 2013. RSPCA welfare standards for chickens, November 2013. Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://www.freedomfood.co.uk/industry/rspca-welfare-standards Google Scholar
Simsek, UG, Dalkilic, B, Ciftci, M, Cerci, IH and Bahsi, M 2009. Effects of enriched housing design on broiler performance, welfare, chicken meat composition and serum cholesterol. Acta Veterinaria Brno 78, 67–74.Google Scholar
Su, G, Sorensen, P and Kestin, SC 1999. Meal feeding is more effective than early feed restriction at reducing the prevalence of leg weakness in broiler chickens. Poultry Science 78, 949–955.Google Scholar
Su, G, Sorensen, P and Kestin, SC 2000. A note on the effects of perches and litter substrate on leg weakness in broiler chickens. Poultry Science 79, 1259–1263.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weeks, CA, Danbury, TD, Davies, HC, Hunt, P and Kestin, SC 2000. The behaviour of broiler chickens and its modification by lameness. Applied Animal Behaviour Science. 67, 111–125.Google Scholar
Weeks, CA, Knowles, TG, Gordon, RG, Kerr, AE, Peyton, ST and Tillbrook, NT 2002. New method for objectively assessing lameness in broiler chickens. Veterinary Record 151, 762– 764.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Bailie and O’Connell Supplementary Material

Figure S1

Download Bailie and O’Connell Supplementary Material(File)
File 1.6 MB
Supplementary material: File

Bailie and O’Connell Supplementary Material

Figure S2

Download Bailie and O’Connell Supplementary Material(File)
File 1.9 MB