Sarıca Musa, Karakoç Koray, Erensoy Kadir
Department of Animal Science, Agricultural Faculty, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
Arch Anim Breed. 2022 May 5;65(2):171-181. doi: 10.5194/aab-65-171-2022. eCollection 2022.
This study aimed to determine the changes in the performance, welfare, and productivity level of broiler chickens reared at various group sizes (GS3000, GS4000, GS6000, and GS20 000) under intensive field conditions. The study was carried out according to a randomized block design with four different group sizes (GS) in three trials. Weekly body weights (BWs) were determined randomly in 150 individuals from each GS group. Feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), and European production efficiency factor (EPEF) were determined for each GS treatment. Body defects (footpad dermatitis, FPD, hock burn, HB, and the breast burn, BB) were measured randomly in 150 chickens (75 male and 75 female) from each group using a visual scoring system with a 0-3 scale. At 1 and 2 weeks of age, GS3000 broilers had similar BW to GS6000 and higher than GS4000 and GS20 000. However, this situation changed at 6 weeks of age and the male chickens in GS6000 became heavier than in GS3000, GS4000 and GS20 000 ( 0.007). No differences in mean values of temperature, humidity, air velocity and litter moisture levels were observed among GS treatments. GS3000 and GS4000 chickens had significantly lower levels of FPD, HB, and BB than chickens reared in GS6000 and GS20 000 ( 0.001). The EPEF values from highest to lowest were 425.8, 404.5, 358.8, and 354.0 in the GS6000 GS3000, GS4000, and GS20 000 groups, respectively. In conclusion, our study results showed that rearing in groups of 6000 broilers had both better performance and higher overall productivity than other groups but tended to show more severe body defects.
本研究旨在确定在集约化田间条件下，不同群体规模（GS3000、GS4000、GS6000和GS20000）饲养的肉鸡的生产性能、福利和生产力水平的变化。该研究按照随机区组设计，在三次试验中设置了四种不同的群体规模（GS）。每周从每个GS组中随机选取150只个体测定体重（BW）。测定每个GS处理的采食量（FI）、饲料转化率（FCR）和欧洲生产效率因子（EPEF）。使用0 - 3级视觉评分系统，从每组中随机选取150只鸡（75只雄性和75只雌性）测量身体缺陷（脚垫皮炎，FPD；跗关节灼伤，HB；以及胸部灼伤，BB）。在1周龄和2周龄时，GS3000肉鸡的体重与GS6000相似，且高于GS4000和GS20000。然而，这种情况在6周龄时发生了变化，GS6000中的雄性鸡比GS3000、GS4000和GS20000中的雄性鸡更重（P < 0.007）。在GS处理之间，未观察到温度、湿度、风速和垫料湿度水平的平均值存在差异。GS3000和GS4000的鸡的FPD、HB和BB水平显著低于在GS6000和GS20000中饲养的鸡（P < 0.001）。GS6000、GS3000、GS4000和GS20000组的EPEF值从高到低分别为425.8、404.5、358.8和354.0。总之，我们的研究结果表明，饲养6000只肉鸡的群体比其他群体具有更好的生产性能和更高的总体生产力，但往往表现出更严重的身体缺陷。
