Broiler-Housing Conditions Affect the Performance

Abstract

In the last decades animal production has considerably increased worldwide to sustain an ever-growing human population. Among animal reared for consumption purposes, chickens are undoubtedly one of the most successful, mainly due to their rapid growth rate. The development of broiler farming has been accompanied in recent years by a substantial attention to animal welfare. This study is aimed at assessing the effects of different housing conditions on both feed conversion ratio and mortality of male broiler flocks through a largescale study (more than 100 million birds) involving 977 farms belonging to one major producer. For this, we evaluated nine features of the housing system using a linear model with random effect. The features were: roofing, floor, drinkers, feeders, water source, color curtain color, management, light and ventilation. A total of 3516 poultry flocks were assessed. Positive ventilation, metal and clay roof, dirt floor and owner management were shown to reduced mortality. Concrete floor, negative ventilation, blue curtains, fluorescent lightening, owner management, tap water and well water significantly improved FCR. We discuss our findings in relation with economic constraints and provide advices to encourage farmers using simple devices that will improve both production and chicken survival.

Basic Production Parameters of Small Capacity Broiler Farms in the Region of Banja Luka

“…A more accurate estimation in comparison of different farms can be made by using the European production efficiency factor (EPEF), an aggregate value calculated on basis of several production parameters (Shane, 2013). The production performance of broiler farms, despite a high degree of unification and intensity of technology, is subject to variation, and can be influenced by a number of factors, such as location, capacity and technological equipment of the farm, climate, transport conditions and quality of day-old chicks, feed and water quality, microclimate, the length of period between rounds and growers' competence (Sasaki et al, 2014;Mesa et al, 2017;Utnik-Banaś et al, 2018). Acceptable production performance in our conditions, as well as its dependence on housing density, fattening duration, and day-old chick weight or hybrid provenience have been reported by Mitrović et al (2005), Mitrović et al (2010), and Pandurević (2010.…”

“…However, when average values of individual countries in that report were compared, then values from this study are within variation recorded for final weight (1.92-2.70 kg) and feed conversion (1.65-1.95). The efficiency of food utilization is influenced by microclimate conditions on a farm, nutritional factors, age, sex and health of broilers, the grower's knowledge and competence, as well as the season (Leeson, 2000;Mitrović et al, 2010;Sasaki et al, 2014;Mesa et al, 2017). Simsek and Ozhan (2015), for instance, reported comparable final chick weight and feed conversion ratio at farms of three different capacities, which is supported by the results of Tandoğan and Çiçek (2016) obtained in the analysis of commercial broiler farms also with three different capacities.…”

Evaluating Water Use for Agricultural Intensification in Southern Amazonia Using the Water Footprint Sustainability Assessment

“…Sheep and goat annual offtake rates were assumed identical to that of cattle (17%), while horses, donkeys, and mules were not considered to be consumed and therefore their live population was equated to the total herd population reported by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE as the Portuguese acronym) [16]. The swine and chicken development cycles were assumed to be 70 and 42 days respectively [41,42], from which we derived average swine and chicken populations following Equation (6) [43] P k,i (t) = days P k,i (t) 365 (6) where P k,i (t). (animals) is the average population of animal k, in municipality i and calendar year t, days is the total number of days of the animal's development cycle, and P k,i (t) is the population of animal k reported by national statistics [16].…”

Representativeness of the field of rural buildings and ambience in Brazilian journals / Representatividade do campo dos edifícios rurais e do ambiente nas revistas brasileiras

“…In the last few years, food production has significantly increased, as well as the regulatory requirements of the producing countries and of all sectors that commercialize agricultural products [1][2][3][4][5][6] , searching for a cleaner and more sustainable production, with less impact on the environment and meeting animal welfare guidelines [7][8][9][10] .…”