Abstract
The behaviour, welfare, and tibia characteristics of fast- and slow-growing chickens were evaluated in free-range and intensive production systems. A total of 720 birds of three strains were subjected to these systems after 21 days of rearing under the same intensive environment. Each treatment was replicated six times with 20 birds in each replicate. Data were collected for welfare aspects, including feather condition, footpad, hock joint and tonic immobility, behavioural features, especially feeding or foraging, sitting, walking, scratching, pecking and dust-bathing, and tibia characteristics, including weight, length, width, medullary canal diameter and robusticity index (4 - 8 weeks). Production system had significant effects on all welfare and behaviour aspects of the birds. However, tibia characteristics were not influenced by production system, except for medullary canal diameter. The strains differed significantly in welfare, tibia characteristics and behaviour. For example, the slow-growing strains had better feather condition, footpad and hock joint scores. Significant interactions of strain and production system were noted for all characteristics. It was recommended that Rhode Island Red chickens could be raised under either production system without compromising their welfare or causing adverse effects on leg health.
Highlights
Broiler production is one of the largest food-producing enterprises among poultry businesses
Rhode Island Red chickens are thought to be highly adaptive to harsh climatic conditions, but there is a dearth of scientific information about the welfare, behaviour and tibia characteristics of the breed compared with commercial fast- and slowgrowing strains
The birds under the free-range system showed the highest levels of comfort and natural behaviour, whereas the intensive system was stressful to the birds, of which of a higher (P
Summary
Broiler production is one of the largest food-producing enterprises among poultry businesses. Keeping the consumers' preferences in mind, slow-growing strains were developed several years ago by breeding companies. Breeding of these birds was owned only by French companies such as Sasso Isa Crossbreeding (Chabault et al, 2012). Rhode Island Red (RIR) chickens may be rewarding as an alternative genotype for small-scale rural poultry farmers who cannot afford environmentally controlled poultry houses. Rhode Island Red chickens are thought to be highly adaptive to harsh climatic conditions, but there is a dearth of scientific information about the welfare, behaviour and tibia characteristics of the breed compared with commercial fast- and slowgrowing strains. The present study was planned to compare commercial fast-growing, commercial slow-growing and rural slow-growing broiler strains under intensive and free-range rearing systems
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
