Footpad dermatitis and pain assessment in turkey poults using analgesia and objective gait analysis

Abstract

The relationships between litter moisture, footpad dermatitis (FPD) and pain in medium-heavy turkey strains was studied by gait analysis in two medium-heavy with and without analgesia (betamethasone or bupivacaine).The relationship between FPD and litter moisture was linear above a breakpoint of 49% litter moisture, and there were no differences between the two breeds in susceptibility to FPD.Gait analysis showed higher impulse, single support time, stride time and stance time in breed A compared to breed B. Significant interactions between breed, litter and analgesic for impulse, single support time and stride time were associated with higher means for breed A given saline injection on wet litter.Data from betamethasone analgesia in Experiments 1 and 3 were combined for analysis. Peak vertical force was higher in saline- compared to betamethasone-treated birds. Compared to the wet (high FPD) litter treatments, birds on dry (low FPD) litter had greater speed and lower double support time and longer stride length. Turkeys kept on wet litter had a longer stride length compared to dry litter when given saline, whereas in betamethasone-treated birds the means were similar.There were no differences between birds with or without bupivacaine analgesia. Peak vertical force was higher in breed A than B and in birds with a low FPD compared to a high FPD score.It was concluded that breeds A and B did not differ in susceptibility to develop FPD when housed on wet litter but may have natural gait differences. Significant changes in gait parameters were associated with wet litter and with analgesic treatments. The results showed that FPD affected the gait of the turkeys and, combined with evidence of behavioural changes when given analgesia, suggest that footpad lesions are painful.

Assessing the Effects of Stocking Density on Turkey Tom Health and Welfare to 16 Weeks of Age

“…The increase in footpad lesions (week 16) may also relate to the decrease in mobility, as footpad lesions have been associated with pain ( 5 , 6 ). Similar results have been seen in turkeys previously, with a higher incidence of footpad lesions present at higher SD in 12-week old hens and 16-week old toms at slaughter ( 2 ).…”

“…Martrenchar et al also evaluated bird mobility, and found that as SD increased, gait scores became poorer, indicative of poorer mobility ( 2 ). The authors hypothesized that this may be due to reduced activity, although it may also relate to the increased incidence of footpad lesions as they have been associated with pain in previous studies ( 6 ). In addition to increased litter moisture, litter temperature has also been shown to increase at higher SD ( 7 ).…”

Pathomorphological investigations on the prevalence of contact dermatitis lesions in broiler chickens

“…Lesions similar to those observed in broiler chickens were encountered in turkeys, housed on wet litter (Martland 1984). Recently, an examination of the pain caused by foot pad dermatitis, in the context of turkey poults, noted that the condition may have an adverse effect on mobility and linked it to weight loss (Da Costa et al 2014;Wyneken et al 2015). High humidity in poultry facilities was also highlighted as a predisposing factor (Bruce et al 1990).…”

Soya bean meal increases litter moisture and foot pad dermatitis in maize and wheat based diets for turkeys but maize and non-soya diets lower body weight

“…Taken together, the results of the current experiment and the parallel study in Italy (Veldkamp et al 2017) confirm the importance of DEB and the role that soya bean meal has in increasing litter moisture and the prevalence of FPD. Combined with evidence that FPD may be painful (Sinclair et al 2015;Weber Wyneken et al 2015), it is imperative that regular monitoring and amelioration of litter conditions are incorporated into flock management procedures to minimise FPD; specifically, the increase in litter moisture with time must be minimised (Wu and Hocking 2011;Weber Wyneken et al 2015). A simple but effective system for litter scoring was recently published (Giacomelli et al 2018) that will facilitate this process even if manipulation of dietary composition and DEB will be limited by practical and economic constraints.…”

“…The prevalence of foot pad dermatitis (FPD) in growing poultry is an adverse welfare and economic factor that is closely related to high concentrations of litter moisture (Wu and Hocking 2011;Weber Wyneken et al 2015). The banning of animal by-products as protein sources in diets for livestock in Europe (European Commission Decisions No.…”