Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Mapalana, Kamburupitiya, Sri Lanka.
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna, Mapalana, Kamburupitiya, Sri Lanka.
Poult Sci. 2024 Apr;103(4):103542. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2024.103542. Epub 2024 Feb 13.
The type of litter material has direct impacts on production, behavioral, and welfare parameters of broilers. The price of conventionally-used litter materials is increasing. Salvinia molesta is a fast-growing aquatic plant which has become an environmental issue in some areas. This study assessed the suitability of air-dried Salvinia plants (SAL) as an alternate litter material to paddy husk (PH). Resulting in a completely randomized experiment, a total of 240 broilers was raised in 12 floor-pens each provided with either PH or SAL as litter materials, from 11 to 36 d. Scan sampling technique was employed to record the birds' engagement in 15 predetermined behaviors. Foot pad dermatitis (FPD), hock burn damage (HBD) and plumage cleanliness (PC) were assessed using Welfare Quality Scoring System. Litter samples were analyzed for pH, dry matter%, water holding capacity, porosity, N%, tapped-density and ammonia emission rate. The litter material had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on mortality, growth performance parameters, dressing % and visceral organ weight. The scores for FPD and PC were unaffected by the litter materials. SAL litter reported significantly lower (P < 0.05) HBD scores. The percentages of birds engaged in eating and wing flapping behaviors were significantly lower on SAL. Litter type had no significant influence on the color, aroma, flavor, texture and overall acceptability of breast meat. Air-dried Salvinia plants reported acidic pH. SAL litter gave a significantly higher tapped-density. Ammonia emission rate of SAL litter was significantly lower than that of PH. However, the final litter N content was higher for PH (3.7%) than SAL (3.2%). The study proposes air-dried Salvinia plants as a litter material for broilers since it gives growth performance comparable to PH with reduced hock burn damage incidences. Effects of SAL on behavior and the fertilizer value of the spent litter are to be studied further.
垫料类型直接影响肉鸡的生产性能、行为和福利参数。传统垫料的价格不断上涨。水葫芦是一种生长迅速的水生植物，在一些地区已成为环境问题。本研究评估了风干水葫芦植物（SAL）作为替代稻壳（PH）垫料的适宜性。采用完全随机试验，将 240 只肉鸡饲养在 12 个地板笼中，每个笼中分别使用 PH 或 SAL 作为垫料，从 11 日龄到 36 日龄。采用扫描取样技术记录鸡的 15 种预定行为。采用福利质量评分系统评估脚垫皮炎（FPD）、跗关节烧伤损伤（HBD）和羽毛清洁度（PC）。分析垫料的 pH 值、干物质%、持水能力、孔隙率、N%、 tapped-density 和氨排放率。垫料对死亡率、生长性能参数、屠宰率和内脏器官重量没有显著影响（P > 0.05）。垫料对 FPD 和 PC 评分没有影响。SAL 垫料报告的 HBD 评分显著较低（P < 0.05）。在 SAL 上，鸟类参与进食和翅膀拍打行为的比例明显较低。垫料类型对胸肉的颜色、气味、味道、质地和整体可接受性没有显著影响。风干水葫芦植物的 pH 值呈酸性。SAL 垫料的 tapped-density 显著较高。SAL 垫料的氨排放率明显低于 PH。然而，PH 的最终垫料 N 含量（3.7%）高于 SAL（3.2%）。本研究提出使用风干水葫芦植物作为肉鸡垫料，因为它的生长性能与 PH 相当，跗关节烧伤损伤发生率较低。需要进一步研究 SAL 对行为和垫料养分的影响。
