Gao Xinlei, Gong Jiangang, Yang Bowen, Liu Yanci, Xu Hongjian, Hao Yanshuang, Jing Jialin, Feng Zhihua, Li Lihua
College of Animal Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China.
College of Food Science and Technology, Hebei Agricultural University, Baoding, China.
Front Vet Sci. 2023 Aug 3;10:1227654. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2023.1227654. eCollection 2023.
High-stocking density is one of the factors that can easily cause oxidative stress and inflammatory reaction of broilers. Currently, music therapy has been proposed to help animals relieve stress to some extent. However, it is still unclear whether classical music can alleviate stress in broilers at high stocking densities. Hence, this study aimed to investigate the effects of classical music on growth performance, stress level, antioxidant index, immune function and meat quality of broilers under different stocking densities. A total of 540 one-day-old broilers with similar body weight were randomly divided into 6 treatment groups, with 6 replicates per group, which included two feeding environments (with/without classical music) and three stocking densities (15.5, 17.9, and 20.3 birds/m), thereby making a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement. The results showed as follows: increasing stocking density decreased the average daily feed intake and average daily gain (ADG), increased feed-to-gain ratio (F/G) and mortality of broilers. Moreover, increased density resulted in an increase in serum corticosterone (CORT) and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels. Increasing stocking density decreased spleen and bursal indices, serum immunoglobulin A (IgA), immunoglobulin G (IgG), and immunoglobulin M (IgM) levels. Increasing stocking density elevated serum malondialdehyde (MDA) and decreased catalase (CAT), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) activities. Increasing stocking density decreased serum total protein (TP) levels and increased total cholesterol (TC) and glucose (GLU) levels. Additionally, increasing stocking density decreased the cooking liss of pectoralis and increased the L* value of pectoralis. Meanwhile, playing classical music for broilers increased their ADG and decreased F/G, and decreased serum CORT, ACTH, GLU content. In addition, the bursa of Fabricius index, serum IgA and IgG contents as well as the a* value of pectoralis was increased under the music therapy. In conclusion, high-stocking density (20.3 birds/m) harmed the growth performance and health of broilers, and the classical music stimulus ameliorated the negative effects to some extent.
高饲养密度是容易导致肉鸡氧化应激和炎症反应的因素之一。目前，已提出音乐疗法可在一定程度上帮助动物缓解应激。然而，尚不清楚古典音乐是否能缓解高饲养密度下肉鸡的应激。因此，本研究旨在探讨古典音乐对不同饲养密度下肉鸡生长性能、应激水平、抗氧化指标、免疫功能和肉质的影响。总共540只体重相近的1日龄肉鸡被随机分为6个处理组，每组6个重复，其中包括两种饲养环境（有/无古典音乐）和三种饲养密度（15.5、17.9和20.3只/m²），从而形成2×3析因设计。结果如下：饲养密度增加会降低肉鸡的平均日采食量和平均日增重（ADG），提高料重比（F/G）和死亡率。此外，密度增加会导致血清皮质酮（CORT）和促肾上腺皮质激素（ACTH）水平升高。饲养密度增加会降低脾脏和法氏囊指数、血清免疫球蛋白A（IgA）、免疫球蛋白G（IgG）和免疫球蛋白M（IgM）水平。饲养密度增加会提高血清丙二醛（MDA）水平，降低过氧化氢酶（CAT）、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）和谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GSH-PX）活性。饲养密度增加会降低血清总蛋白（TP）水平，提高总胆固醇（TC）和葡萄糖（GLU）水平。此外，饲养密度增加会降低胸肌的蒸煮损失，提高胸肌的L值。同时，给肉鸡播放古典音乐可提高其ADG并降低F/G，降低血清CORT、ACTH、GLU含量。此外，在音乐疗法下，法氏囊指数、血清IgA和IgG含量以及胸肌的a值均有所增加。总之，高饲养密度（20.3只/m²）损害了肉鸡的生长性能和健康，而古典音乐刺激在一定程度上改善了这些负面影响。
