Effects of Elevated Platform and Robotic Vehicle on Broiler Production, Welfare, and Housing Environment

Abstract

HighlightsUsing an elevated platform with a manure catcher reduced litter moisture content and ammonia concentration.A robotic vehicle encouraged bird movement and use of the elevated platform.Using the elevated platform and robotic vehicle jointly improved broiler paw quality and plumage cleanliness.Abstract. Elevated platform (EP) and robotic vehicle (RV) are two emerging systems aiming to improve environment enrichment and bird activity in broiler housing systems. However, the impacts of these systems on broiler production, welfare, and housing environment have not been evaluated. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of using EP and RV individually or jointly on broiler feed conversion ratio (FCR), litter moisture content (LMC), ammonia (NH3) concentration, gait score (GS), paw quality (PQ), plumage cleanliness (PC), and bird activity index (AI). Broilers were reared for eight-week production cycles. Four experimental rooms (54 birds room-1) were randomly assigned four treatments: EP only, RV only, EP and RV (EP+RV), and neither EP nor RV (Ctrl). Broiler GS, PQ, and PC were assessed following welfare protocols. Bird AI was determined through image processing. The experiment was repeated three times. The results showed that overall FCR values were 1.806 for EP, 1.804 for RV, 1.797 for EP+RV, and 1.791 for Ctrl. The normalized LMC values were 23.2% ±4.1% for EP, 32.8% ±4.1% for RV, 23.4% ±2.5% for EP+RV, and 35.7% ±7.0% for Ctrl over the eight-week production cycles. NH3 concentrations were 40% lower in the rooms with EP than in the rooms without EP at the end of the production cycle. Broilers had better PQ in the rooms with EP than in the rooms without EP. Broiler PC seemed better in the rooms with RV compared to those without RV. Operation of RV increased bird AI; however, the benefits in activity encouragement diminished as the broilers grew. The number of broilers on the EP was higher in the EP+RV rooms than in the EP rooms. It is concluded that using EP and RV together may improve broiler welfare and activity without compromising their production performance. Keywords: Behavior, Broiler, Elevated platform, Robotic vehicle, Welfare.

Enhancing their quality of life: environmental enrichment for poultry

“…This could be explained by chickens sitting under the platforms and having dirty back feathers ( Malchow et al, 2019 ). Yang et al (2020) observed a positive effect of mesh platforms with ramps provided to fast-growing chickens on footpad dermatitis, likely because the chickens were less in contact with litter. However, they did not find any effect on cleanliness and walking ability.…”

“…Few studies considered other types of environmental enrichment and their effects on welfare indicators in fast-growing broiler chickens. Laser beams, 4 times per day during four minutes ( Meyer et al, 2019 ), a robot vehicle ( Yang et al, 2020 ), and roughage did not improve welfare indicators in broiler chickens ( Pedersen et al, 2020 ; Tahamtani et al, 2020 ), while for roughage it was indicated that there might be a risk for wetter litter and as a result contact dermatitis ( Riber et al, 2018 ). Vertical panels showed to have a beneficial effect on leg muscle width although other welfare indicators were not affected ( Pedersen et al, 2020 ).…”

Welfare of broilers on farm

“…Bailie and O'Connell, 2014 ). More recently techniques have been developed to automatically capture information on the broilers’ locomotory behaviour, such as video imaging and RFID (van der Sluis et al., 2020 ; Yang et al., 2020 ; Gebhardt‐Henrich et al., 2021 ). Interpretation The less the locomotory behaviour observed, the more the restriction of movement.…”

Effects of ground robot manipulation on hen floor egg reduction, production performance, stress response, bone quality, and behavior

“…Researchers have investigated robotic application in poultry production and welfare management practices. Yang et al [10] examined the effects of ground robots on broiler activity, footpad dermatitis, and bird usage of elevated platforms. Parajuli et al [11] explored broiler and laying hen responses to a ground robot operated at different speeds and frequencies and concluded that the robot did not induce more stress than a human in broiler houses.…”

“…Common physiological stress indicators (i.e., serum corticosterone concentration [13]) should be measured to examine the potential robot-induced stress for laying hens, which was not reported by Parajuli et al [11]. Yang et al [10] elaborated that robot operations encouraged broiler movement, and increasing bird activities have been correlated to improved bird bone quality in loose housing systems [3,14]. Therefore, the robot was assumed to increase hen activities in this study and consequently enhance bird bone quality.…”