A field study on correlations between macroscopic gut health scoring, histological measurements and performance parameters in broilers.

Optimal intestinal health is a prerequisite for sustainable poultry production. Intestinal health can be evaluated by scoring macroscopic intestinal abnormalities and by histological measurements. The aim of this study was to evaluate correlations between macroscopic gut appearance scoring (GAS), coccidiosis lesion scoring, histological measurements and performance parameters in broilers under field conditions. Therefore, a cross-sectional study was performed on 50 broiler farms where birds were sampled at 28 days of age. The GAS was determined by scoring the absence or presence of 10 macroscopically visible parameters of the gastrointestinal tract, yielding a GAS between 0 and 10, with 0 meaning no gut abnormalities. On individual bird level, when birds had a GAS score of 6 or higher, significantly shorter villi were found in the duodenum. Also, CD3+ T-lymphocyte area percentage in the duodenal mucosa was significantly negatively correlated to villus length. On farm level, the average feed conversion ratio (FCR) was 1.59 ± 0.04 [1.52-1.73]. However, no correlations were found between the GAS at the age of 28 days and the prevalence of coccidiosis, nor did coccidiosis lesion scoring correlate with the FCR. Also, a higher GAS could not be associated with a higher FCR. In conclusion, on all farms a certain degree of macroscopic visible gut and coccidiosis lesions were present in birds of 28 days of age, while this did not correlate with the FCR. This suggests that broilers are able to cope with a certain level of gut damage before it influences the overall performance.

Short Communication: effect of positive handling of sows on litter performance and pre-weaning piglet mortality.

Fear and environmental stressors may negatively affect the welfare of farm animals such as pigs. The present study investigated the effects of music and positive handling on reproductive performance of sows (n = 1014; parity 1 to 8) from a commercial pig farm practicing a batch farrowing system. Every 2 weeks, 56 sows were moved from the gestation unit to conventional-crated farrowing houses 1 week prior to expected farrowing. Treated (T; n = 299) and control (C; n = 715) sows were included in the study. In the farrowing houses, auditory enrichment (music from a radio) was provided to sows of T groups daily from 0600 to 1800 h until the end of lactation. Until the day of farrowing, T sows were additionally subjected, for 15 s per day per sow, to continuous back scratching by one member of farm staff. Litter performance and piglet mortality were recorded and analysed between T and C sows using linear mixed regression models. The number of liveborn piglets (C 13.85 v. T 13.26) and liveborn corrected for fostering (C 13.85 v. T 13.43) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) in C groups compared to the T groups. The number of stillborn piglets was 0.60 and 0.72 in T and C groups, respectively (P > 0.05). With regard to piglet mortality, a linear mixed regression model showed a significant overall effect of treatment in reducing piglet mortality (P < 0.01). Yet, the effect of treatment varied according to litter size (number of liveborn piglets) with a diminishing treatment effect in sows with a high litter size (P < 0.01). Pre-weaning survival was improved in the current study by the combined effect of daily back scratching of sows prior to farrowing and providing music to sows and piglets during lactation. Further research is needed to assess the separate effects of both interventions.

Scoring biosecurity in European conventional broiler production.

Good biosecurity procedures are crucial for healthy animal production. The aim of this study was to quantify the level of biosecurity on conventional broiler farms in Europe, following a standardized procedure, thereby trying to identify factors that are amenable to improvement. The current study used a risk-based weighted scoring system (biocheck.ugent ®) to assess the level of biosecurity on 399 conventional broiler farms in 5 EU member states. The scoring system consisted of 2 main categories, namely external and internal biosecurity, which had 8 and 3 subcategories, respectively. Biosecurity was quantified by converting the answers to 97 questions into a score from 0 to 100. The minimum score, "0," represents total absence of any biosecurity measure on the broiler farm, whereas the maximum score, "100," means full application of all investigated biosecurity measures. A possible correlation between biosecurity and farm characteristics was investigated by multivariate linear regression analysis. The participating broiler farms scored better for internal biosecurity (mean score of 76.6) than for external biosecurity (mean 68.4). There was variation between the mean biosecurity scores for the different member states, ranging from 59.8 to 78.0 for external biosecurity and from 63.0 to 85.6 for internal biosecurity. Within the category of external biosecurity, the subcategory related to "infrastructure and vectors" had the highest mean score (82.4), while the subcategory with the lowest score related to biosecurity procedures for "visitors and staff" (mean 51.5). Within the category of internal biosecurity, the subcategory "disease management" had the highest mean score (65.8). In the multivariate regression model a significant negative correlation was found between internal biosecurity and the number of employees and farm size. These findings indicate that there is a lot of variation for external and internal biosecurity on the participating broiler farms, suggesting that improvements are possible. Since the subcategory "visitors and staff" scored the lowest, better education of broiler farmers and their staff may help to improve overall biosecurity on broiler farms in Europe.