Abstract

Five strains of broilers were reared in cages and in floor pens. The cages were arranged in four tiers in a back-to-back arrangement. Plastic mats were inserted over the wire floors in the finisher cages and conventional rice hull litter was used in the floor pens. Within the cage system, significant differences were found between strains, tiers, sex and the strain × sex interaction for 8-week body weight (P < 0.01). There were significant differences among strains as to enlarged feather follicles and mortality (P < 0.05); however, there were no significant differences (P < 0.05) among the strains for leg abnormalities. The heaviest broilers had the highest incidence of enlarged feather follicles and leg abnormalities. The highest mortality (P < 0.05) occurred in the bottom tier of cages. Floor reared broilers were not significantly different for 8-week body weight (P < 0.05) than cage reared broilers. Floor birds had negligible amounts of breast blisters, enlarged feather follicles and leg abnormalities.

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