Abstract
This experiment was carried out aiming to assess walking manner and speed of broiler chickens with different gait scores (GS), with or without sound stimulus, and with or without administration of analgesic. To that end, 1,000 birds were evaluated by the GS test and 74 were selected for walking speed analyses. Weight at slaughter and breast yield values were obtained for comparisons. Walking speed analyses, both with and without analgesic and with and without stimulus were performed. Non-parametric statistics was applied to the GS data that did not meet the assumptions of the statistical model (normality and homogenicity) using Fisher’s exact test according to the data behavior (P<0.05). The analyses of data on speed, weight at slaughter, and breast yield were evaluated by ANOVA and compared by Tukey’s test (P<0.05). Walking speed differed after acoustic stimulus with or without administration of metamizole sodium. Body weight was also different in each GS. It is thus concluded that the birds may feel discomfort when their GS is higher than 0, but that such discomfort may be suppressed when they are stimulated to walk.
Highlights
High-yield broiler chickens have high incidence of leg issues [1]
The mortality found for birds in this study was 3%, the gait score frequency results are based on 970 broiler chickens (Table 1)
The other characteristics presented in this study refer to the number of birds selected for image evaluation, i.e., gait scores (GS) 0 = 46 birds, GS 1 = 23 birds, and GS 2 = 5 birds
Summary
High-yield broiler chickens have high incidence of leg issues [1]. Researchers have shown the animals have little ability to respond to the mechanical loads entailed by their conformation and weight when walking, which suggests the animals are not able to adapt their skeletal system as quickly as body weight increases [2, 3].Improper skeletal system formation, which results in locomotion issues, may decrease the well-being of broiler chickens due to reduced mobility. High-yield broiler chickens have high incidence of leg issues [1]. Researchers have shown the animals have little ability to respond to the mechanical loads entailed by their conformation and weight when walking, which suggests the animals are not able to adapt their skeletal system as quickly as body weight increases [2, 3]. Improper skeletal system formation, which results in locomotion issues, may decrease the well-being of broiler chickens due to reduced mobility. Chicken well-being is one of the main requirements of consumers, as are environmental conservation, quality standards, and food safety [4]. Animal well-being has become part of the marketing strategy of the food industry and there is growing need to use methods to estimate chicken comfort. Locomotion disorders are commonly found issues in the production cycles of broiler chickens and cause high production losses.
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