Effects of different floor housing systems on the welfare of fast-growing broilers with an extended fattening period

摘要

This study was made to investigate the long-term effects ofdifferent floor housing systems on the welfare of fast-growingbroilers. The experiment was performed on 210-day-old fast-growinghybrid male chickens with identical conditions until 47 days ofage. Animal-based welfare parameters were measured to investigatethe welfare level in the group housed on deep litter, a litter and slatsystem, and a slatted floor, with five replicates for each group. Results showed that the main welfare indicators in live birds, such breast dirtiness,plumage score, footpad lesion, and hock burn lesion, were negativelyaffected in broilers kept on conventional deep-litter floorhousing. But hemorrhage or lesion scores of the breast and shoulder ofbroilers in slat floor housing were found to be significantly greater thanin conventional deep litter as a result of a heavy body weight at a greater slaughter age (  0.05). Pathologically, the prevalence of footpad and hock joint dermatitis was very high in the deep-litter housingsystem. Femoral head necrosis was not observed in any floorhousing group. The results indicated that keeping broilers on a slatflooring system is preferable for younger slaughter ages and for a lighter slaughter weight. When considering the relationship betweenanimal welfare and production economy, moving from one floor housesystem to another floor housing system should be carefully weightedin future decisions. Moreover, further investigations are needed inorder to examine the incidence of joint and bone problems withmuscle inflammation in heavier broilers in commercial conditions.