Abstract
Housing environment is essential to achieve good broiler performance and to prevent diseases, including footpad dermatitis (FPD). The objective of this study was to determine the incidence of footpad dermatitis in broilers chickens according to housing type. The study was carried out with broilers reared for 5, 12, 19, 29 and 40 days. Four houses were used in this observational study. House 1 (A1) had positive pressure and reused litter; house 2 (A2) had positive pressure and new litter (sawdust); house 3 (A3) had positive pressure and new litter (rice husks); and house 4 (A4) had negative pressure and reused litter. During the entire experiment, air environmental and litter surface temperatures, and litter compaction were recorded. Pododermatitis was assessed by visual scoring of the footpads. Footpads were scored as function of the severity of the lesion. The comparison of means by the test of Bonferroni at 95% confidence interval showed higher incidence of footpad dermatitis in A3, probably due to the particle size of litter substrate. The lowest footpad dermatitis incidence was found in A1, with reused sawdust litter.
Highlights
The first cases of footpad dermatitis in broilers were recorded in the 1980s (Greene et al, 1985)
In Brazil, footpad dermatitis is used as a welfare indicator in processing plants, and it is regulated by law (BRAZIL, 2010)
Variables related to footpad injury, such as footpad surface temperature (FPST, oC) and footpad dermatitis scores (FPD) were compared among houses (A1, A2, A3 and A4)
Summary
The first cases of footpad dermatitis in broilers were recorded in the 1980s (Greene et al, 1985). The lesions may be severe and cause pain, hindering birds to move freely around the house, negatively affecting their welfare (Schmidt & Luders, 1976; Greene et al, 1985; Ekstrand et al, 1998; Martrenchar et al, 2002; Dawkins et al, 2004; Bilgili et al, 2009; Hoffmann et al, 2013; Harn et al, 2014). Tool to understand physiological aspects of animals This technique allows measuring surface temperature without disturbing the animals, especially of animal body areas that have low heat capacity (Denoix, 1994; Weschenfelder et al, 2013; Nääs et al, 2014). This study aimed at determining the incidence of footpad dermatitis in broilers reared in houses with different ventilation systems and on reused or new litter
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