ABSTRACT
Broiler chickens in Europe are usually raised in a barren environment. Elevated perforated platforms address this problem and can positively influence animal health and welfare. To evaluate the effect of an elevated perforated floor on the behavior of broiler chickens, one of two barns was equipped with a perforated flooring system under the food and water supply. The second barn was used as a control. In total, three fattening periods were observed, with 500 broiler chickens (Ross 308 breed) kept in each barn. To compare the behavior of the birds in these groups, cameras were installed in the two barns. The videos were analyzed by counting the number of birds and observing focal animals while recording their behavior. More animals were observed on the perforated floor than in the littered control area (p < 0.001), but focal animals spent less time on the perforated floor compared to the observed littered area in the control barn (p < 0.05). There were no differences in the length of the recorded behaviors between the treatments. These findings suggest that, in general, the elevated perforated floor is attractive for the animals. However, it does not promote one of the recorded behavior patterns. Our results show that an elevated perforated floor could be an option for structuring broiler barns.
ABSTRACT
Animal welfare is one of the most challenging issues in modern farm animal husbandry. Animal welfare indicators can be used to monitor welfare on farms or at slaughterhouses, with footpad dermatitis (FPD) being one of the most important indicators used in turkeys. Up to now, the severity of FPD has been measured by evaluating the size of altered lesions on the metatarsal pad of birds. However, such lesions are not only found on the metatarsal pads, but alterations can also occur on the digital pads of the animals, the latter is not included in the European standard scoring systems for turkeys so far. The aim of the present study was to give a detailed outline of alterations on the digital pads of turkeys and associate their occurrence to a standardly used five-point scoring system, which is based on alterations of the metatarsal pad only. Therefore, pictures of 500 feet of turkeys from 16 flocks at the end of the fattening phase were taken, using an automatic camera system. Based on these pictures, alterations on the digits were scored according to different parameters (lesions, swellings, and number of affected digits). Furthermore, detailed measurements were conducted using an imaging software. Results were compared with a standardly used five-point scoring system (standard FPD scoring system), based on the metatarsal pad as reference. Results provide no equivalence in occurrence and severity of alterations on the metatarsal pads compared to those found on the digits. Pathologic alterations on the digits were already present at standard FPD scoring level 0; no differentiation became obvious between the higher scoring levels 2-4. Strong correlations were found when comparing percentage of alterations of the standard FPD scoring system to those of a system including alterations on the digits and the metatarsal pad, using the total foot as a reference (rp = 0.9, p < 0.001). This was the first study conducting a detailed analysis of alterations on the digits of turkeys. In conclusion, results of this study show that including the evaluation of alterations on digits could refine the present FPD scoring system, especially when using FPD as an animal welfare indicator.