Cool perches improve the growth performance and welfare status of broiler chickens reared at different stocking densities and high temperatures

Zhao, Jingpeng; Jiao, Hongchao; Jiang, Yong; Song, Zhigang; Wang, X. J.

doi:10.3382/ps.2012-02933

Cited by 38 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Martrenchar et al () reported higher final body weights (2%) due to the presence of perches at a density of 22 birds/m 2 , males being slightly heavier, but not at other stocking densities. Similar results were reported by Zhao et al () after 6 weeks, and also by Zhao et al () but only at densities of 20 birds/m 2 . Perching frequency was significantly higher when birds were raised at stocking densities of 15 or 20 birds/m 2 (Pettit‐Riley & Estevez ).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Effects of stocking density, light and perches on broiler growth

Velo

Ceular

2016

Animal Science Journal

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The aim of this study was to determine the effect of stocking density, light intensity and light color on broiler growth. The experiment consisted of four 35-day phases during each of which 320 chickens were surveyed. The research was performed at stocking densities of four and six birds/m . Illuminances of 15 and 30 lx were obtained through commercial lamps with 4000 K and 6000 K color temperatures. Lighting was used 17 h a day, between 06.00 and 23.00 hours (17 L:7 D). The results showed a decrease in body, carcass, breast and thighs weight (P < 0.05) with the increase in stocking density. Body weight decreased by 10.5% and carcass weight decreased by 9.4% at six birds/m stocking density. Contrastingly, no differences were found for the tested light colors. Increasing illuminance from 15 to 30 lx caused a 1.9% decrease in body weight. The analysis of the effect of perches revealed that using perches significantly increased body (2.5%) and breast weight (11.8%). The interactions between light intensity or color and stocking density and between light intensity and light color were analyzed.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 91%

Effects of stocking density, light and perches on broiler growth

Velo

Ceular

2016

Animal Science Journal

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“…Similar results were reported by Pettit-Riley and Estevez (2001), Estevez et al (2002), and Ventura et al (2012). Although Zhao et al (2013) reported beneficial effects of cooled perching on feed conversion ratio and body weight gain, these effects were related to a thermoregulatory advantage of the cooled perches. Availability of perching might not affect these criteria, probably due to relatively low use of the perches by fast-growing broilers.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

“…breast, thigh, wing, and back) were not affected by perch availability in this study. Zhao et al (2013) reported similar results with regard to carcass yield and proportions of carcass parts. Low perch use in the perch group, along with similar growth performance, may explain similar proportion of carcass parts in both groups in the current study.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 71%

“…Currently, there are a very limited number of studies examining meat quality in relation to perch availability. The current results are inconsistent with Zhao et al (2013), who reported that decreased drip and cooking losses in broiler meat with cool perches indicated a beneficial influence on meat quality. However, in that study, a slight increase in drip loss was attributed to the detrimental effect of high stocking density, while decreases in drip and cooking losses were related to enhanced thermolysis from the use of cool perches.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 57%

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Effects of perch availability on performance, carcass characteristics, and footpad lesions in broilers

2016

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Abstract. In the modern broiler industry, solutions are still being sought to improve conditions or eliminate problems related to issues such as animal welfare, health, and meat quality brought by intensive production systems. Therefore, this experiment was conducted to study effects of perching on growth performance, carcass characteristics, and footpad lesions (FPLs) in broiler chickens. A total of 300 broiler chicks (Ross 308) were distributed into control and perch groups with three replicates including equal numbers of males and females. The perch group contained two single perches in each pen.Analysis of camera records revealed that on average 7.36 % of the birds using perches. Perch use did not have any effect on growth performance (P > 0.05), but had a positive effect on FPLs (P < 0.001). Carcass yield and proportions of carcass parts were not affected by perch availability (P > 0.05). Thigh and breast meat color was less yellow (P < 0.005) in the perch group compared to the control group, where breast meat color was more red (P < 0.01). Birds in the perch group had brighter breast meat (P < 0.001). The weight of livers in the perch group was lower than in the control group (P < 0.01).These findings suggest that perch use has positive effect on FPLs. The reduction of redness in the breast could indicate that perch use may have a positive effect on breast inflammation. The potential positive effects of adapting perch use to intensive conditions should be further investigated.

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“…Generally, the common indicator of a good perch (material and configuration) is preference of perch use. However, data collection of perching preference in most experiments has been performed by manual observations (Brendler and Schrader, 2016;Campbell et al, 2016;Nasr et al, 2012a;Norring et al, 2016;Steenfeldt and Nielsen, 2015;Zhao et al, 2013), which is time and labor intensive and limited in duration of observation. Hence, several automatic methods have been developed to monitor perching behavior including using load cells, computer vision and radio frequency identification (RFID) technology.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An RFID-Based Automated Individual Perching Monitoring System for Group-Housed Poultry

KaiLao¹,

Liu²,

Xin³

et al. 2019

Transactions of the ASABE

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Abstract. Perching is a natural behavior of poultry. Considerable research has been done to explore the relationship between group overall perch usage and well-being of laying hens. To quantify the potential cause-effect relationship on individual hens with different health or well-being status (e.g., keel bone deformation, foot pad lesion, social ranking) in a group, it is necessary to identify the perching behavior of individual birds. However, continuously monitoring individual birds in a group poses considerable challenges. To enable such research and potential commercial application, this study developed and validated a radio frequency identification (RFID) based automated perching monitoring system (APMS) for characterizing individual perching behaviors of group-housed poultry. The APMS consisted of an RFID module, a load cell module, and a round wooden perch. The RFID module was comprised of a high-frequency RFID reader, three customized rectangular antennas placed under the perch, and RFID transponders attached to the birds. The load cell module was comprised of a data acquisition system and two load cells supporting both ends of the perch. The daily number of perch visits (PV) and perching duration (PD) for individual birds were used to delineate perching behavior. Three identical experimental pens, five hens per pen, were equipped with the monitoring system. Two RFID transponders were attached to each hen (one per leg), and a distinct color was marked on the bird’s head for video or visual identification and validation. Performance of the APMS was validated by comparing the system outputs with manual observation and labeling over an entire day. Sensitivity and specificity of the system were shown to improve from 97.77% and 99.88%, respectively when using only the RFID module to 99.83% and 99.93% when incorporating weight information from the load cell module. Using this system, we conducted a preliminary trial on the relationship of perching behavior and body weight of laying hens, which revealed little effect of body weight but considerable variability in perching behavior among the individual hens. The study demonstrated that the APMS had excellent performance in measuring perching behaviors of individual birds in a group. The APMS offers great potential for delineating individual differences in perching behavior among hens with different social status or health conditions in a group setting. Keywords: Individual perching behavior, Laying hen, Load cell, Precision livestock farming, RFID, Welfare.

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Cool perches improve the growth performance and welfare status of broiler chickens reared at different stocking densities and high temperatures

Cited by 38 publications

References 36 publications

Effects of stocking density, light and perches on broiler growth

Effects of stocking density, light and perches on broiler growth

Effects of perch availability on performance, carcass characteristics, and footpad lesions in broilers

An RFID-Based Automated Individual Perching Monitoring System for Group-Housed Poultry

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