Do alternative litter Materials Affect performance, Welfare and Immune Response of Broiler Chicks?

Abstract

Two hundred, one-day-old Cobb broilers were utilized as a part of this analysis. Chicks were examined and weighed on the entry day then, arbitrarily appointed to five litter treatments (20 birds per pen) with two duplicates for every treatment. The litter treatment consists of five different litter types: Wood shavings (WS), Ground rice straw, Ground rice straw + sand, Ground corn stalks straw, and Rice hulls. Behavioral perception was done twice per day, two days a week for six sequential weeks. Body weight (BW) and Feed intake rate per pen were measured each week, from which body weight gain (BWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were calculated. At 42 days of age, welfare indices were measured including fear, stress, fluctuating asymmetry, plumage score, leg health and abnormalities. In addition, some carcass traits, litter quality were surveyed. Immune response against Newcastle diseased virus was determined at 21 and 29 days of age. Mortalities were recorded for every treatment. Our data cleared that birds reared on various litter components exhibited non-significant changes in feeding, drinking, standing, preening and scratching behaviors. While, birds reared on Rice hulls exhibited a significantly higher walking behavior and significantly lowered sitting and dust bathing behaviors. Bedding types had no obvious effect over BW, BWG, FCR and mortality percentages. Welfare indices were not affected by the type of litter substances. The type of the litter did not affect moisture content and compactness score of litter. In contrary, cleanliness score of the litter was worst in Ground rice straw compared to wood shavings. In addition, immune response against Newcastle diseased viruses not affected with types of litter. It concluded that, bedding types affect behaviors of broiler chicks. Ground rice straw, Ground rice straw + sand, Rice hulls and Ground corn stalks straw could be used as alternative bedding materials to wood shavings without affect on birds performance, welfare, health and immune response.