Effects of noise and light intensities on stress and fear reactions in broilers

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the effects of noise and light intensity on stress and fear reactions in broilers. Broiler chicks (288) were randomly allocated to nine environmentally controlled rooms containing 16 male and 16 female chicks. Commencing from day 15, the broilers were exposed to noise and light levels of 60, 80 and 100 dB and 50, 100 and 200 lx for 30 sec in every 2 h, respectively. There was no statistical difference between 60 and 80 dB noise level groups for heterophil to lymphocyte ratio (h/l) while it was determined that when noise level had increased to 100 dB, h/l reached to 0.82. The effect of light intensity had no statistical significance onstress. On the other hand, it was determined that fear response of broilers had not affected by either noise level or light intensity. It also revealed that live weights at 42 days of age were affected significantly by the noise and light levels while there were no differences in feed consumption, feed conversion ratios, and mortality rates.