Jones Philip J, Tahamtani Fernanda M, Pedersen Ida J, Niemi Jarkko K, Riber Anja B
School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading, P.O. Box 237, Earley Gate, Whiteknights, Reading, Berkshire RG6 6AR, UK.
Department of Animal Science, Aarhus University, Blichers Allé 20, P.O. Box 50, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark.
Animals (Basel). 2020 Feb 26;10(3):378. doi: 10.3390/ani10030378.
Reduced mobility in broilers can contribute to leg health problems. Environmental enrichment has been suggested as one approach to combat this through stimulating increased physical activity. Past studies have tested the effect of environmental enrichments on bird behaviour, health and welfare, but few have estimated their financial impacts. This study tested the impact of eight types of environmental enrichment on enterprise net margin, accounting for direct intervention costs plus indirect effects via changes to bird mortality, weight, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, and foot pad dermatitis. The trial used 58 pens each containing approximately 500 broilers (Ross 308) at a stocking density of 40 kg/m. The environmental enrichments were: roughage, vertical panels, straw bales, elevated platforms (5 and 30 cm), increased distances between feed and water (7 and 3.5 m) and stocking density reduced to 34 kg/m, plus a control group. Mortality was recorded daily and feed intake and weight weekly. Footpad dermatitis was assessed on day 35. Only one intervention improved financial performance (3.5 m between feed and water) above the control, suggesting that most environmental enrichment would have a negative financial impact due to the additional intervention costs, unless consumers were willing to pay a price premium.
肉鸡活动能力下降会导致腿部健康问题。环境富集被认为是一种通过刺激增加身体活动来解决这一问题的方法。过去的研究测试了环境富集对鸟类行为、健康和福利的影响，但很少有研究估计其财务影响。本研究测试了八种环境富集对企业净利润的影响，其中包括直接干预成本以及通过鸟类死亡率、体重、采食量、饲料转化率和脚垫皮炎变化产生的间接影响。试验使用了58个鸡舍，每个鸡舍以40kg/m的饲养密度饲养约500只罗斯308肉鸡。环境富集措施包括：粗饲料、垂直板、草捆、高架平台（5厘米和30厘米）、饲料与水之间的距离增加（7米和3.5米）以及饲养密度降至34kg/m，外加一个对照组。每天记录死亡率，每周记录采食量和体重。在第35天评估脚垫皮炎。只有一种干预措施（饲料与水之间距离为3.5米）在对照组之上改善了财务表现，这表明除非消费者愿意支付价格溢价，否则由于额外的干预成本，大多数环境富集措施会产生负面的财务影响。
