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The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of 2 different bedding types, sand and wood shavings, on the behavior of broiler chickens. In experiment 1, 6 pens were divided down the center and bedded half with sand and half with wood shavings. Male broilers (10/pen) were observed by scan sampling at 5- or 12-min intervals throughout the 6-wk growth period during the morning (between 0800 to 0900 h), afternoon (1200 to 1500 h), and night (2300 to 0600 h). There was a significant behavior x substrate x week interaction during the day (P < 0.0001) and at night (P < 0.0002). Drinking, dustbathing, preening, and sitting increased in frequency on the sand side but decreased on the wood shavings side during the day, as did resting at night. In general, broilers performed a greater proportion of their total behavioral time budget on the sand (P < 0.0001) as they aged. Broilers used the divider between the 2 bedding types to perch; perching behavior peaked during wk 4. In experiment 2, male broilers were housed in 8 pens (50 birds/pen) bedded only in sand or wood shavings. Bedding type had no effect on behavioral time budgets (P = 0.8946), although there were age-related changes in behavior on both bedding types. These results indicate that when given a choice, broilers increasingly performed many of their behaviors on sand, but if only one bedding type was provided they performed those behaviors with similar frequency on sand or wood shavings.
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ENVIRONMENT, WELL-BEING, AND BEHAVIOR
Effect of Sand and Wood-Shavings Bedding
on the Behavior of Broiler Chickens
S. J. Shields,
1
J. P. Garner,
2
and J. A. Mench
3
Department of Animal Science, University of California, One Shields Avenue, Davis, California 95616
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to determine
the effect of 2 different bedding types, sand and wood
shavings, on the behavior of broiler chickens. In experi-
ment 1, 6 pens were divided down the center and bedded
half with sand and half with wood shavings. Male broilers
(10/pen) were observed by scan sampling at 5- or 12-min
intervals throughout the 6-wk growth period during the
morning (between 0800 to 0900 h), afternoon (1200 to
1500 h), and night (2300 to 0600 h). There was a significant
behavior × substrate × week interaction during the day (P
< 0.0001) and at night (P < 0.0002). Drinking, dustbathing,
preening, and sitting increased in frequency on the sand
side but decreased on the wood shavings side during the
(Key words: broiler chicken, behavior, bedding, sand, wood shavings)
2005 Poultry Science 84:1816–1824
INTRODUCTION
Broiler chick ens beco me incre asi ngl y inactive as they
near market we ight , spending a s much a s 80% of their
time resti ng (Murp hy a nd Prest on, 1988; Newberry and
Hall, 1990; Weeks et al., 2000). Inactivit y is probably largely
a consequence of selection and management for particular
growth characteristics. The rapid growth of breast muscl e
in broiler s mo ves the c ent er of gravity forward and the
legs outward, producing a gait pat ter n that is pro babl y
energetic all y inefficient and t iri ng (Corr et a l., 2003). In
addition, broilers may find walking painful (McGeown, et
al., 1999; Danbury, et al., 2000) as they approach slaughter
weight because they are increasingly prone to leg disorders
(Mench, 2004). However, a lack of a cti vity could in turn
increase the incidenc e of gait and skeletal disorders (Haye
and Simons, 1978; Thorp and Duff, 1988). The normal stress
and strain that is caused by exercise is important for me-
chanicall y organizing the growth process of bone into the
2005 Poultry Science Association, Inc.
Received for publication July 30, 2004.
Accepted for publication July 11, 2005.
1
Current address: University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Department of
Animal Science, PO Box 830908, Lincoln, NE 68583-0908.
2
Current address: Purdue University, Department of Animal Science,
125 South Russell Street, West Lafayette, IN 47907.
3
To whom correspondence should be addressed: jamench@
ucdavis.edu.
1816
day, as did resting at night. In general, broilers performed
a greater proportion of their total behavioral time budget
on the sand (P < 0.0001) as they aged. Broilers used the
divider between the 2 bedding types to perch; perching
behavior peaked during wk 4. In experiment 2, male broil-
ers were housed in 8 pens (50 birds/pen) bedded only
in sand or wood shavings. Bedding type had no effect
on behavioral time budgets (P = 0.8946), although there
were age-related changes in behavior on both bedding
types. These results indicate that when given a choice,
broilers increasingly performed many of their behaviors
on sand, but if only one bedding type was provided they
performed those behaviors with similar frequency on
sand or wood shavings.
proper patterns of twisting an d angulation (r evi ewed in
Lanyon, 1993; Rath et al., 2000).
A number of attempts have been made to increase the
activity levels of broilers. Example s include increasing the
distance between food and wate r sources (Haye and Si-
mons, 1978) or placing barriers between the food and water
(Bizeray et al., 2002a) to make broilers walk further to reach
resources . However, using restricted food and water access
as a means to promote locomotion in a commercial house
could create a potential welfa re problem, because broile r
chickens with seve re gait diso rde rs may have difficulty
reaching the food and water and, thus, starve or become
dehydrate d. Light management has also been used to in-
crease activity, for example by increasing the light intensi ty
(Newberry et al. 1985, 1988) or providing intermi tten t daily
lighting (Simons and Haye, 1985). Both methods stimulate d
activity, but only intermitte nt lighting decreased leg prob-
lems. However, complete control over the lighting schedule
under commerc ial conditi ons is not always possible. There
are also other drawbacks to using certain lightin g programs
to reduce leg probl ems , su ch as a poten tial inc rease in
breast blisters from longer periods resting on the keel bone
(Deaton et al., 1978) and a greater incidence of hock and
footpad burns (Sørensen et al., 1999).
Abbreviation Key: CI = confidence interval.
BEDDING TYPE AND BROILER BEHAVIOR 1817
Another way to increase activity levels might be to en-
courage broilers to display normal behaviors that require
energetic movemen t that includes exercise of the legs, for
example walking, foraging, and dustbathi ng behaviors (Ar-
nould et al., 2004). Providing broilers with an enrichment
device that stimulate d them to perch, traverse inclines,
forage, and dustba the resulted in a slight improvement in
gait score (Mench et al. 2001). A simpler and more cost-
effective way to incre ase broiler activity in commercial
houses might be to provide a bedding substrate that stimu-
lates particular behaviors. Sand appears to be one such
potential substrate. Broilers that are depri ved of bedding
and subsequen tly given a choice between sand, pine wood
shavings, rice hulls, and a recycled paper bedding product
choose to dustbathe and forage more in sand than in any
of the other substrates (Shields et al., 2004). When sand-
filled trays are placed in pens, broilers dustbathe and forage
preferent ial ly in the sand rather than in the wood shavings
covering the pen oor (Arnould et al., 2004).
Sand is being consider ed as an alterna tive to pine wood
shavings as bedding for broiler chickens in some areas of
the United States (Grimes et al., 2002 ). Litter quality and
bird performance paramet ers are similar for sand and
wood bedding, and sand is advantag eou s in that it harbors
fewer harmful microorganisms like Escherichia coli (Bilgil i
et al., 1999a,b). However , it is not known how the behavior
of broilers would be affected by the use of sand bedding
in commercial houses. The objectives of the 2 expe rime nts
presented here were to determine 1) whether broilers dif-
ferential ly perform particul ar behavior s on sand or wood-
shavings bedding when given a choice between bedd ing
types and 2) if behavioral time budget s differ between
broilers reared on sand and those reared on wood shavings.
The larger goal of thes e experi men ts was to det erm ine
whether sand bedding would promote the expression of
more active behaviors and, perhaps, improve leg condition.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Experiment 1
Male Ross × Ross broiler chicks (n = 60) were purchased
from a local hatchery. At d 1 of age, the chicks were sepa-
rated into 6 different pens. Each pen measu red 3.05 × 3.05
m and ha d an overhead brood er and 2 circular feeders.
Each pen contained 2 cup waterers, which, along with the
feeders, were arrange d symmetricall y on each side. Feed
(Purina Mills Meat Builde r withou t added medi cat ion;
http://ww w.p urin ami lls .com) an d water were available
ad libitum . Each pen was divided down the center with a
3.8 cm w ide × 8.9 cm h igh pine board and lled to a
depth of 2.5 cm with pine wood shavi ngs on one side and
masonry-g rad e (construc tion ) sand on the other side. The
location of the 2 su bst rat es was alternate d be tween the
right and left sides of the pens. There were windows along
the length of the build ing that allowed daylight to enter,
but the study was conducted in the winter, so the days were
short. There was also fluorescen t light ing set to provide a
16L:8D cycle with the lights coming on at 0700 h and going
off at 2300 h. Although many different lighting programs
are used by the broiler industry, an 8-h scotophase is recom-
mended in some industry standa rds as a management
practice to reduce leg problems (e .g. , Certified Humane ,
2004). The birds were managed in accordance with the
Guide for the Care a nd Use of Agricultural Animals in
Agricultu ral Research and Teachi ng (FASS, 1999), and the
experimen ts described below were approved by the Uni-
versity of Califor nia Davis Institutional Animal Use and
Care Administrative Advisory Committee.
Behaviora l observations were conducted 5 d per week
starting when the chicks reached 7 d of age and continuing
through 49 d of age. Each pen was observed 5 times a week
during the afternoon (1200 to 1500 h). Each observation was
1 h long. Because there are circadi an rhythms in behavior,
pens were also observed once per week beginning at 0800
h to ensure a better approximation of behav ior s that are
more commo nly performed in the morning. There were
more afternoo n observ ati ons than mor ning obs ervations
because parallel observa tion s were being conducted to per-
form a d eta ile d analysis of the structure of du stb athing
behavior, whi ch occurs primar ily in the afternoon. The
results of these pa ral lel studies are reported el sewh ere
(Shields, 2004).
At the beginning of an obse rvat ion session, an observer
satquietlyabout2mawayfromthefrontofapen,allowed
5 min for the chicks to habituate to the observer’s presence,
then start ed a stopwatch and recorded data with pen and
paper. Instantaneous scan samples (Martin and Bateson,
1986) of all the birds in a pen were conducted at the start
of the observation and continued through the hour at 5-
min intervals. During a scan sample, the location (i.e., side
of the pen) and the number of individua ls engaged in a
behavior were recorded. Behaviors were divided into the
following categories : stand, locomote, preen standing,
scratch, feed, peck, sit, preen sitting, drink, dustbathe, perch
(on the board that divided the 2 types o f bedding), and
other. Mos t be havi ors recorded in the “other” category
were aggressive pecks, threats, or chases. A Latin square
was used to determine the order in whic h the pens were
observed each week. Six different observers (S. J. Shield s
and 5 assistants) collected data.
Behaviors occurring at night were videotaped under red
light when the birds were 34, 35, 38, 41 to 43, and 46 to 50
d of age. On each of these nights, video recordi ng started
at 2300 h and continued until 0600 h. Data were then taken
from 1-h segments of the videos starting at 2300, 0200, and
0500 h. For each hour-long segment, an instantane ous scan
sample was performed every 12 min, providing 6 samples
per hour of video. The location and behavior of each bird
were recorded during each scan. The only behav ior s dis-
cernible on the videos were stand, locomote, feed, drink,
perch, and rest. Be cau se it was difficult to see whether
the broile rs h ad th eir eyes open, the c ateg ory of resting
included sleeping and sitting awake.
A score for each behavior was obtained for each observa-
tion by summin g the num ber of bi rds engaged in that
behavior over all of the 5-min (or 12-min, for night observa-
tions) scan sa mple s in a particular observation. Separate
SHIELDS ET AL.1818
scores wer e calculated for the sand side an d th e wood
shavings side of the pen. Perching could not occur on one
side or the other because the perch actually separated the
2 bedding substrates; thus, this behavior was excluded
from these calculatio ns. Because some behaviors were rare,
there were several scores with the value zero, which re -
sulted in a substantial oor eff ect (Martin and Bateson ,
1986). Therefore, we summed the behavioral scores for all
of the observation s so tha t there was one total score for
each behavior in each pen f or each week. Thi s removed
most of the zeros from the data set. Summing the observa-
tions over the week also prevented the problem of colinear -
ity (lack of independence among in dep ende nt variables)
within the behavior × substrate term or other higher-orde r
terms. Because there were 6 pens and 6 wk, summing the
values from each observation created a total of 36 behav-
ioral scores o n sand and 36 behavioral scores on wood
shavings for each of the differ ent behavior categories. To
express each behavioral score as a proportion of the total
behavior performed in a given week and pen, the behav-
ioral score on each substrate was then divided by the total
score for all the behaviors in that pen on both sides for that
week. Dividin g each behaviora l score by the total possible
behaviora l score crea ted a popula tio n time budge t that
could then be subjecte d to statistica l analysis.
The category of “other” was excluded from the statistical
analysis because there we re relatively few sc ore s above
zero in this catego ry. As a result the total budget for each
pen in each week used in the analysis su mmed to less
than 100%, the reby elimin atin g colinearity between the
behaviors within the analysis.
Analyses were performed in the SAS software (SAS,
2000) usin g the PROC GLM procedure . All analyses were
blocked by pen, which was treated as a xed effect. Trans-
formation s were applied where needed to meet the as-
sumptions of GLM (homogen eity of variance, norma lity
of error, and linearit y). The effectivene ss of these tran sfo r-
mations was confirmed using posthoc plots.
To examine the effect of bedding upon the overall time
budget of the birds in a single analysis, the effects of behav-
ior, week, and substrate on time budget proportion were
examined. The GLM model for the analysis was proportio n
of the t ime bud get taken up by ea ch behavior = pen +
behavior|substrate|week, with week as a cont inu ous vari-
able. In such an analysis the behavior term descri bes the
shape of the time budget, a behavior × substrate interacti on
describes how the budget differs on the 2 bedding types,
and a behav ior × substrate × wee k in ter acti on describes
how this differenc e changes with time (for further details
see Chu et al. 2 004) . Therefore, th e behavior × substrate
× week interac tion was exa mine d to test for differ enti al
changes in the time budget s over time (i.e. , week) on the
2 beddings. Week was treated as a continuou s variable to
explicitl y test for progressive c han ges over tim e and to
account for th e fact th at observations made cl ose to on e
another in time will be more simila r to each other than
those s epa rat ed in time. The data in th is an alysis were
Box-Cox trans form ed with k = 1.25 to pr oduc e the best
error structure.
Bonferron i-c orre cte d posthoc estimates were calculated
for the rate of change in each behavior with time on each
bedding type. Bonferroni-correc ted posthoc contrasts were
performed to compare these rates o f ch ange and , th us,
determine whether any change in a behavior with time
(i.e., week) differed between the 2 beddings. The change
in overall use of each bedd ing t ype with time and the
overall budgets on each bedding type were examine d using
posthoc contrasts equivalent to the week × substrate and
substrate × behavior interaction s, r espe cti vel y. For each
posthoc test, a combined P 0.05 for all compar iso ns was
considere d statisticall y significant.
Pecking, scratchi ng, and feeding often occurred together,
and so they were combined together into a new behavioral
category, foraging. This behavioral categor y includ es be-
haviors associated with high levels of locomotion and so
can be considered a good general indicator of activity (Biz-
eray et al., 2002b). The 3 behaviors were summe d into a
single score and conve rte d to a propor tion of the total
behaviora l time budget to obtain a separate analysis for
foraging. We analyzed thi s for agi ng score using a GLM
blocked by pen. The independent variables of interest were
substrate and week (which again was treated as a covari-
ate). Diff ere ntia l ch ang es in foraging behavior on th e 2
bedding types over time (i.e., week) were test ed by the
substrate × week interact ion. However, the error structure
revealed nonl inea rit y, and a quadratic model was found
to provide a better t. Data were angula r transf orm ed for
this analysis.
Because perching occu rre d between th e 2 sides of the
pen and could not be included in the analysis of the behav-
ioral time budget, it was also analyze d separately in a GLM
blocked by pen, in which week was the independe nt factor.
Week was treated as a continuous variable; however, post-
hoc assessment of the error structure revealed evidence of
nonlinear ity . Therefore a GLM blocked by pen was used to
perform a polynomial regressi on, which provided a much
better fit to the data. To confirm these results the analysis
was also run with week as a categori cal variable. Data were
angular transformed for this test. Tukey posthoc tests were
used to det erm ine significant differen ces between weeks
in the anal ysi s whe re w eek was treated as a cate gorical
variable.
Because ni ght video was only taken during the last 3
wk, day-of -ag e was used a term in the analysis inst ead of
the week te rm to provide sufficient d ata resolut ion over
time. The anal ysis was otherwise the same a s that p er-
formed for the daytime time budgets. The behavior × sub-
strate × day-of-age interacti on was examined to test f or
different ial changes in the time budgets over tim e (i. e.,
days of age) on the 2 beddings. Perching behavior was not
included in this analysis because it could not be categorized
as occurring on a particular side. Data were log trans-
formed for this analysis. Posthoc analyses were performed
as for the daytime time budgets.
Experiment 2
Four hundred male Cobb broiler chicks were purchased
from a local hatchery and distributed evenly among 8 pens.
BEDDING TYPE AND BROILER BEHAVIOR 1819
The same types of pens were used in this study as in the
first experiment. Overh ead fluoresce nt light ing was the
same as in experiment 1 (8D:16L) with the lights coming
on at 0700 h. Because th e study started in Octob er, the
days began to get shorter as the study progressed. Four
pens were bedded approximately 17.8 cm deep in masonry-
grade sand, and the other 4 pens were bedded in pine wood
shavings to approximatel y the same depth. Husbandry was
as previously described.
Beginning when the chi cks reached 1 wk of age, e ach
pen was observed fo r 1 h, 4 d per week. Ob serv ati ons
continued until the chicks reache d 7 wks of age. Two of
the weekly observations on each pen were performed in
the morning (between 0800 and 1200 h), and 2 observations
were performed in the afternoon (between 1200 and 1600
h). During each 1-h observatio n, a trained observer sat in
front of the pen and recorded behavioral data as described
for experiment 1.
Scores for each behavior were summed and analyzed as
in experiment 1. The behavioral categories used in experi-
ment 2 were slightl y different from the ones used in the
first study. The category “feed” was split into the catego-
ries, “feed sitting” and “feed standing” for the time budget
analysis, although both were include d in the “foragin g”
category. The category of “other” was excluded from the
statistic al analysis to reduce the floor effect, but the behav-
ioral categories of “chase” and “a ggr essi on” were left in
the analysis because inspecti on of the data revealed that
there were mor e scores above zero than in the pr evi ous
experimen t. Analyses of the overall behavioral time budget
and foraging behavior were performed as previous ly de-
scribed, except that pen was now nested within substrate
rather than crossed with substrate. Hence, the GLM model
for the time budget analysis became: Proporti on of the time
budget taken up by e ach behavio r = pen (substrate) +
behavior|substrate|week, with week as a continu ous
variable.
RESULTS
Experiment 1
The time budgets on the 2 bedding types changed differ-
ently over time (be hav ior × substrate × week in ter acti on
F
9,675
= 4.39, P < 0.0001; Figure 1). Posthoc contrasts compar-
ing the rate of change in behavior between the 2 bedding
types showed a significant difference in the rate of change
of drinking, dustbathing , preening while sitting, and sitting
behaviors on the 2 different beddi ngs . Postho c estimates
of the rate of c hang e in beh avio r on eac h bedding type
revealed that there was a significant decrease in locomotion
and standing behavior on both bedding types. In addition,
the behaviors, drink, peck and scratch, did not change
significantly on the sand, but decre ase d significant ly on
the wood shavi ngs. The re w as a sign ificant incre ase in
sitting on the sand.
Posthoc contr asts rev eal ed th at, ove rall, the behaviors
drink, dustbathe, locomote, peck, preen standin g, and
standing were significantly different on the 2 sides of the
pen (F
9,675
= 6.61, P < 0.0001). The proportion of the total
behaviora l time budget made up by each of these behaviors
was significantly higher on the sand side of the pens (Figure
2). Post hoc contrasts also revealed that the birds performed
a greater proportion of their total behaviora l time budget
on the sand as the experime nt progr ess ed (F
1,675
= 57.31;
P < 0.0001).
Foraging beha vior on the 2 bedding types chang ed dif-
ferently over time (F
1,61
= 7.89; P = 0.0067; Figure 3). Posthoc
analysis showed that foraging did not change significantly
in the sand but decreased significantly in the wood shav-
ings. The p rop orti on of the total behavior al time budget
that was spent foraging in sand did not change significantly
over the cours e of the stud y. The proportion of the total
behaviora l budget that was spent foraging in the w ood
shavings decreased significantly.
Perching was rst noticed when chic ks were less than 1
wk old. Visual inspection of the data suggested that perch-
ing decreased from wk 1 to 2, then increased at wk 4, and
then decreased again to wk 6. The data were, therefore, fit
to a cubic polynomial. There was a significant week × week
× week interac tion (F
1,63
= 8.30, P = 0.005), indicating that
perching decr ease d, increased, and then decr eas ed again
as a pro gre ssi ve function of age. When the a nalysis was
rerun with week as a cat ego rica l va ria ble, these results
were confirmed (F
5,61
= 6.73, P < 0.001). Perching declined
from wk 1, when it made up 3.0% [95% confidence interval
(CI): 2.1 to 3.9%] of the popula tio n time budge t, to wk 2,
when it was 1.8% (95% CI: 1.1 to 2.5% ) of the population
time budget. In wk 3 perching was 1.9% (95% CI: 1.3 t o
2.7%) of the popula tio n ti me budge t. I ts frequency then
increased in wk 4, when it reached 2.9% (95% CI: 2.1 to
3.9%) of the ti me budget, and then nally decreased to
1.5% (95% CI: 0.9 to 2.2%) and 0.7% (95% CI: 0.3 to 1.2%) of
the total behavioral time budget in wk 5 and 6, respecti vel y.
Tukey pairwis e compariso ns revealed that there was more
perching during wk 1 than in wk 6 and significantly more
perching in wk 3 and 4 than in wk 6.
For nighttime behavior, there was a significant behavior
× day-of-age × substrate interaction (F
4,755
= 5.50, P =
0.0002), indicating that the time budgets on the 2 bedding
types changed with age. Bonferron i-c orre cte d posthoc esti-
mates show ed t hat r est ing increased significantly from
13.9% (95% CI: 9.4 t o 20.5% ) of the tota l behavi oral time
budget at 34 d of age to 61.2% (95% CI: 42.2 to 88.7%) of
the total behavioral time budget at 50 d of age) on the sand
and decrea sed nonsignificantly from 27.5% (95% CI: 18.7
to 40.4%) to 12.0% (95% CI: 8.2 t o 17.6%) on the wood
shavings as the birds aged. Posthoc contra sts showed that
this diffe ren ce in rates of change of r esti ng b ehavior on
the 2 be ddi ng types was sig nificant. None of the o the r
behaviors showed significant diffe ren ces between the 2
bedding ty pes in their rate of c han ge w ith a ge. Posthoc
contrasts at the mean age of the birds in the analysis (42
d) showed that the beha vio ral time budget differe d on the
2 bedding types (F
4,755
= 5.36, P = 0.0003) and that drinking,
feeding, resting, and standing were all performed more on
the sand side of the pen (Figure 4).
SHIELDS ET AL.1820
Figure 1. Significant change in behavior as a proportion of the total behavioral time budget over the course of experiment 1. All figures are
residual plots with each data point plotted as its residual from the least squares lines (LSL). The data points represent the behavioral time budget
score corrected for pen. The significant posthoc tests for each behavior are indicated beneath the panel letter as follows: SνW = the change in
behavior over time differed between sand and wood shavings, S+ = the behavior increased significantly in the sand over time, S = the behavior
decreased significantly in the sand over time, and W = the behavior decreased significantly in the wood shavings over time. Each panel of the
graph indiciates a different component of the total time budget: (a) drinking, (b) dustbathing, (c) preening while sitting, (d) sitting, (e) locomotion,
(f) standing, (g) pecking, (h) scratching, (i) preening while standing.
Experiment 2
Rather than providing both bedding types in each pen,
in experiment 2 each pen contained only 1 of the 2 bedding
substrate s. The behavioral time budgets did n ot change
different ly with time on the 2 types of bedding (the week
× treatmen t × b ehav ior interaction was not significant:
F
12,566
= 0.53, P = 0.8946). However , planne d posthoc con-
trasts revealed that overall the behavioral time budgets did
change significantly with week on both substrat es (F
12,566
=
20.78, P < 0.00 01; Table 1). Thus, posthoc Bonferroni-cor -
rected comparisons showed that aggre ssio n, chasing, feed
standing, locomotion, pecking, and standing all decreas ed
significantly with time in both treatments, whereas preen
sitting and sitting increased significantl y on both treat-
ments with time.
The separate analysis of foraging confirmed the lack of
an effect of bedding. There was no differen ce in foraging
behavior betw een t he 2 bedding typ es ( F
1,38
= 2.62, P =
0.1141). However, there was an overall effect of time (i.e.,
week; F
1,38
= 26.90, P < 0.0001), such that the time spent
foraging on both bedding types declined from 26.2% (95%
CI: 24.4 to 28.1%) in wk 1 to 18.7% (95% CI: 17.1 to 20.4%)
in wk 6.
DISCUSSION
In experiment 1, bedding type did influence behavior but
not only in the way expected. Active behaviors (dustbathe,
locomote, and peck) were p erfo rme d mo re of ten on the
sand, but so too were inactive behaviors (resting and sit-
ting). Furthermore, ther e was no significant difference be-
BEDDING TYPE AND BROILER BEHAVIOR 1821
Figure 2. Overall distribution of behaviors on each side of the pen as shown by the proportion of total behavioral time budget for each behavior.
Error bars depict SEM. *Significant difference at P 0.05.
tween the behavior s of broilers given only sand or wood
shavings in experi men t 2. Thus there was no suppor t for
the idea that exercise could be increased and leg problems
decreased by housing broilers on sand bedding. Although
the present experiment did not show that active behaviors
were increased by the provision of sand bedding, i t did
show th at the broilers preferred sand to wood shav ings
when they were given a choice.
It was interesting that the birds sat and rested more on
the sand rather than on the wood shavings, because wood
shavings subjectively seem to be a softer substra te. There
might be a perc eptu al difference in the way sand appears
to broilers or in the way it feels on their feet and in their
plumage. Clea nlin ess , temper atu re at lower depth in the
bedding, odor, or some other characteristic of the bedding
may be more important than the softnes s of the bedding
for resting. Bilgi li et al. (1999a) found that sand bedding
in commercial houses is cleaner than wood shavings in
that it harbors fewer microorg ani sms , such as Escherichi a
coli. Althoug h they found no differen ce between sand and
wood shavings in moisture content, temperature, or ammo-
nia production, the qu ali ty of sand an d wood shavings
may be differe nt deeper in the sand, where broiler chickens
create small depressions in which to rest. Bedding depth
might also be a factor in the preference observed in experi-
ment 1. The bedding depth in this experiment was rather
shallow, particularl y as compared with the shavings depth
typically found in a comme rcia l house. It is possible that
shallow sand provides more comfort or has better insula-
tive properti es than shallow wood shavings, although this
would need to be assessed experime nta lly.
Pecking and scratching decreased on the wood shavings
side of the pen but increas ed on the sand side, which could
occur for several reasons. One possibilit y is that scratching
and pecking are usually perfor med pri or to a dustbath,
and there was signi ficantly more dustba thin g on the sand
side of the pens as the birds aged. Anot her possibility is
that the decrease in these behaviors reflects the changing
condition of the litte r. Sand may stay more fri abl e than
wood shavings and, theref ore, might be an easier or more
rewarding surface in whic h to scratch and peck . Foraging
also decli ned significantly on the wood shavings and in-
creased on sand. The texture or mix of colors of the sand
might have elicited feeding more than the wood shavings,
perhaps because it was more similar to the type of surfa ce
on which fowl would forage naturally. It is also possible
that sand particles resembled the small stones that chickens
ingest if they have access to them. The motivation to find
and ingest small pebbles for grit may still be strong despite
the lack of need for poultry to have grit to dige st commer-
cially prepared poultry feed.
SHIELDS ET AL.1822
Figure 3. Change in foraging behavior on each side of the pen by
week. Foraging behavior did not change significantly in the sand but
did decrease significantly in the wood shavings.
One une xpe cte d result fro m the first experiment was
that drinking behavio r tended to increase significantl y on
the sand side of the pen and that at night birds also drank
more on the sand side. This could simply be beca use the
birds drank at the d rin ker nearest to them, and because
they spent a greater proportion of their time on the sand
tended to be closer to the sand side drinker . However,
there was no differenc e in the amou nt of feeding behavior
that occurred on each side during the day. Beca use eating
and drinking usually occur together, it would be expected
that drinking would also occur approximat ely equally on
Figure 4. Overall distribution of behaviors on each side of the pen at night. *Significant differences at P 0.05.
both sides of the pen, but this was not the case. Another
possibili ty is that pr ope rtie s of the bedding affected the
quality of the water. Bedding sometimes got into the auto-
matic cup waterers, and the wood shavings became sus-
pended in the water to a greater extent than the heavier
sand. The result was that the water tended to stay cleaner
on the sand side of the p en, which might be on e reaso n
that the birds walked to the sand side to drink. Also, when
water spilled out onto the bedding the wood shavings in
the area around the drinker became wetter than the sand.
One advantage of using sand as bedding, then, would be
that the water supply and the area around the water supply
stays cleaner, at least when cup watering systems are used,
as in the present study.
Our results agree with previous work showing that
broiler chickens become increasingl y inactive (Murphy and
Preston, 1988; Newberry and Hall, 1990; Weeks et al., 2000).
In the experiments presented here, behaviors such as sitting
and preen sitting increased with time, whereas behaviors
that required more energy expenditur e such as locomotion,
stand feeding, standing, aggression and chas e decreased
on both bedding types. In contrast , lighter-t ype breeds such
as Leghorns are much more active than broilers , displaying
behaviors such as aggression, running, and frolickin g when
they are 6 wk old (Mench, 1988). As mentione d previousl y,
this increasi ng inactivity is probably largely a consequence
of rapid growth rate and its associ ate d effects on body
conformat ion and leg problems . Slow-growing broilers are
much more active at 6 weeks of age than are fast-gro wing
broilers (Bokkers and Koene, 2003). The motivati on to move
around in familiar surroundings may also be lacking when
the housing environment for broilers does not provide
BEDDING TYPE AND BROILER BEHAVIOR 1823
Table 1. Change in the behavioral time budget over the 6-wk period of experiment 2
Change in behavioral time budget
Week 1 Week 6 Significant
Behavior mean (95% CI)
1
mean (95% CI)
1
change?
2
Aggressive 1.1% (0.7% 1.5%) 0.2% (0.1% 0.5%) Yes
Chase 0.6% (0.3% 0.9%) 0.0% (0.0% 0.0%) Yes
Drink 3.0% (2.3% 3.8%) 3.0% (2.3% 3.7%) No
Dustbathe 1.0% (0.6% 1.5%) 1.0% (0.6% 1.5%) No
Feed Sitting 1.1% (0.7% 1.6%) 1.2% (0.8% 1.7%) No
Feed Standing 17.1% (15.5% 18.7%) 12.2% (10.8% 13.7%) Yes
Locomote 5.0% (4.1% 6.0%) 1.8% (1.3% 2.4%) Yes
Peck 6.5% (5.5% 7.6%) 4.0% (3.2% 4.9%) Yes
Preen sitting 3.3% (2.6% 4.2%) 7.4% (6.3% 8.6%) Yes
Preen standing 2.2% (1.6% 2.9%) 1.0% (0.6% 1.5%) No
Scratch 0.6% (0.3% 1.0%) 0.1% (0.0% 0.3%) No
Sit 47.0% (44.9% 49.2%) 64.2% (62.1% 66.2%) Yes
Stand 10.1% (8.8% 11.4%) 2.9% (2.2% 3.7%) Yes
1
Mean percentage of time the behavior occupied in the time budget; the 95% confidence interval (CI) is shown
in parenthesis
2
Significance level of P < 0.05.
much complexity or novelty (Newbe rry , 1999). There are
undoubted ly other factors that contribut e to the decrease
in activity as broilers age, and these may become apparent
with additional experimental work.
In the first experiment, in which pen s were divid ed,
broilers used the divider to perch. As in other experiment s
that have reported that broilers do not use perches exten-
sively (Hughes and Elson, 1977; Pettit-Ri ley and Estevez,
2001; Estevez et al., 2002 ), perch ing behavior was only a
relativel y small percentage of the time budget (0.7 to 3.0%).
Also in agreement with other studi es (LeVan et al., 2000;
Pettit-Ri ley and Estevez, 2001), perching peaked in wks 3
and 4 and then decreased, proba bly as a consequenc e of
growth-re lat ed changes in body conformation or leg
soundness that make perching increasingly difficult.
In experiment 1, the finding that dustbathing was per-
formed more on the sand than on the wood shavings is in
agreement with previous work in our laboratory showing
that broilers prefer sand to wood shavings, paper bedding,
or rice hulls for dustbathing (Shields et al., 2004). Laying
hens also prefer to dustbathe in sand rather than in wood
shavings or straw (Petherick and Duncan, 1989; van Liere,
1991; Sanotra et al., 1995). The results of experiment 2 were
more surprising, because based on experiment 1 it was
expected t hat broi ler s ho used on sand bedding would
show more d ust bath ing behavio r than those hou sed on
shavings. Instead , the pattern of dustbathing behavior, as
well as other behaviors, was similar on both bedding types.
This finding suggests that the chick ens ’ behavi ora l time
budget was relatively inflexible and that they adjusted to
the less preferred substrate.
The results of the second experime nt may suggest that
the prefer enc e for sand is a weak preferenc e. But it is also
possible that the motivat ion to perfo rm the behaviors that
we meas ure d is so high that broiler s will perform them
even if the conditi ons are not idea l. Or it may be that
other factors that differed between the 2 experim ents , for
example the strain of broi lers used or the dept h of the
bedding, caused a differe nt pattern of substrate usage in
the 2 studies. Obviously, more testing is warranted.
Several concl usio ns can be drawn from these studies.
First, under the conditions in our experiment, broiler chick-
ens rested more on sand, suggestin g that there was some
differenc e between sand and wood shavings that made the
sand a preferred resting substrate. These observations also
confirmed that broil ers become increasingl y inactive as
they age. Finally, these studies demonstrate d that, when
given a choice, the broilers dustbathed, foraged, and drank
more on sand than wood-shaving s beddi ng but that their
behaviora l time budget was similar on wood-shavi ngs bed-
ding when no choice was provided. Beca use there was no
differenc e in activity levels when broilers were raised on
only shavings or sand, it is unlike ly that the provision of
sand bedding would improve leg condition due to exercise-
related effec ts. Simi lar ly, Arno uld et al. (2004) found that ,
although broilers are attracted to trays of sand placed in
their pens and use the sand preferentially for dustbathin g
and foraging, providing sand trays has little effect on over-
all locomotor activity and does not decrease leg problems.
The present experiments demonstrate d a complex rela-
tionship between broiler behavior and bedding type. From
these resu lts it could not be determined definitive ly
whether the broilers chose the sand to perform their activi-
ties or whether instead they performed more of their activi-
ties on the sand side simpl y becaus e they prefe rre d to
spend thei r time on the sand. Further testi ng is, therefore,
needed to determine the various motivating factors under-
lying b roi ler s’ ch oic es of particular beddin g ty pes. Also,
the experi men tal conditions in these studies differed in
several important respects from commercial rearing condi-
tions, and so it would is important to examine the effects on
behavior of such variables as bedding depth and condition,
stocking density, and lighting cycle.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This project w as supported by the National Research
Initiativ e of the USDA Cooperative State Researc h, Educa-
SHIELDS ET AL.1824
tion and Extension Service (grant number 2001-02498). The
authors also thank the William and Charlotte Parks Foun-
dation for financial sup por t, th e student assis tan ts who
helped collec t data (Emil y Blake, Cle ide Falc one , Sarah
McClellan d, Leslie Gu sta fson , Kristen Ro berson, Bradley
Swagart, Sharon Tam, Ashley Thorne, and Bret Weaver),
Brian Bennett for help setting up pens, and the staff at the
Hopkins Avian Science Research Center at the University
of California, Davis, for their expert animal care.
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... Birds preferred to scratch the litter when there was introduction of new substrate or after the substrate is been cleaned up or after feeding. Shields et al. (2005) revealed that scratching of floor is mostly evidenced after feeding and when the environment is enriched with bedding materials. Once there is no litter available for scratching it resulted into negative behaviour of feather pecking (de Haas et al. 2010;Cronin, et al. 2020) which was not evidence in these study. ...
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Animals used behaviour as one of the important tools of adapting to their physical and social environment. This study was conducted to examine the effect of enzyme on the behavioural response of broiler chickens fed with diets containing different enzymes.. The experiment was carried out for six weeks using one hundred and twenty-day old cobb 500 broiler chicks (n = 120). The birds were randomly distributed into four dietary treatment, such that there were 30 birds per each treatment and replicated thrice with ten birds each.. Treatment 1 (T1) (control diet without enzyme), T2 (diet with enzyme Nutrizymes NZ), T3 (diet with enzyme Nutrizymes NZ + Avizymes VZ) and T4 (diet with enzyme Nutrizymes NZ + Roxazyme PZ). Walking, lying, floor scratching, eating, wing flapping, feather pecking, dust bathing, preening and flying were not significantly (p<0.05) influenced by age while floor scratching, fighting and sleeping were significant (p<0.05). floor and fighting (3.20) behaviours were observed in broiler chickens atb5th week while birds appeared to sleep (0.81) more at 3rd week of age compared to the fifth week. Birds were seen lying down frequently (23.76) (p<0.5) in treatment 4 (NZ+PZ) while a higher occurrence of floor scratching (106.10) was observed on treatment 3 (NZ+VZ) diet which signifies better welfare. The interaction between enzyme and behaviour was significant (p<0.05) in birds on diet NZ+VZ with higher incidence of floor scratching (188.0) while fighting behaviour was seen on birds in T4 (NZ+PZ) diet. The study concluded that addition of enzymes in broiler diet enhances better behavioural response in NZ+PZ.
... However, the authors did not report any information on the effect of the various dustbathing substrates on growth performance or welfare traits. In a different study by Shields et al. (2005), it was identified that, when given a choice, broilers increasingly performed many of their behaviors in the sand. If only one litter type was provided, they performed those behaviors with similar frequency in sand or wood shavings, but no information on the effect of the various dustbathing substrates on growth performance or welfare were reported by the authors. ...
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This work reviews the effect of environmental enrichments (perches, platforms, stocking density, outdoor access, bale, and dust bathing substrates) on the performance of fast and slow-growing commercial broiler strains. The performance of both slow and fast-growing commercial broiler strains under conventional production systems are generally poor, especially regarding the welfare status. One of the strategies to improve the performance of commercial broiler strains is by adding enrichment objects to production systems. The addition of enrichments to production systems should improve animal welfare, have no negative effect on production performance, and be both economically practicable and feasible to employ. Perches and platforms are the most common enrichments used to increase the activity of broiler chickens to improve leg conditions. The use of perches and platforms could lead to the reduction in the incidence of footpad dermatitis, hockburns and breast blisters, with subsequent effects on meat quality. Moreover, the provision of outdoor access could improve the biology responses of broiler chickens to various environmental stimuli, with a profound effect on performance and meat quality traits. Furthermore, another enrichment strategies that could increase the exploratory behavior and the general welfare of broiler chickens is the use of dustbathing and bale subtrates. Moreover, adjusting the stocking density provides broiler chickens with the necessary space for movement, reduces crowding, trampling and the associated agonistic behavior. However, the effect of some of these enrichments (perches, platform, bale) objects may vary depending on height, age, sex, and strain of the chickens. Keywords: Broiler; environmental enrichment; production systems; performance; strain
... Wood sawdust is the most common used bedding material, however there were many alternative materials that may be used such as peanut hulls (Lien et al., 1998), rice and wheat straw (Benabdeljelil and Ayachi 1996), rice hull ash Chamblee and Yeatman (2003) and other dry, absorbent, low-cost organic materials. Moreover, sand is occasionally used as a bedding material (Shields et al., 2005). Birds spend their entire life in contact with the litter 1 Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding 2 Department of Animal Nutrition *Corresponding author:Email: drnkpoonia07@gmail.com ...
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The present study investigates the effects of Giloy and ascorbic acid supplementation along with different bedding materials (sand, saw dust and wheat straw) on carcass characteristics (dressed weight or dressing percentage) of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica). four hundred thirty two laying Japanese quails (7 day old) were divided into three of different bedding material and each bedding material group further subdivided into four groups on the basis of supplementation (control, giloy, ascorbic acid and combination of both). Thus, birds were randomly and uniformly distributed in total 12 treatment groups comprising of 36 birds in each group and each group further divided into two replicates comprising 18 birds in each replicate. Quails were fed a basal diet and the basal diet supplemented with 5 g/kg giloy supplement of diet, 240 mg of ascorbic acid/kg supplement of diet and a combination of 5 g/ kg giloy and 240 mg of ascorbic acid/kg supplement of diet. The highly significant (P<0.01) effect of incorporation of dietary supplements (giloy or ascorbic acid or combination) and different bedding material (sand, saw dust and wheat straw) was observed on carcass characteristics of Japanese quail. Interaction effect of bedding material and supplementation was found highly significant (P<0.01) on carcass characteristics (dressed weight or dressing percentage) during experiment. Numerically highest dressing percentage was found in sand as compared to other bedding material and lowest dressing percentage was found in wheat straw. The present study shows that a combination of dietary supplements of giloy and ascorbic acid significantly increases the dressed weight or dressing percentage which is beneficial for economics.
... Similar results were also reported by Singh et al. (2014) and Gupta et al. (2018) in broilers. Shields et al. (2005) found sand a preferred resting substrate for growth in broiler. Ramadan et al. (2013) revealed that birds reared on (wheat straw + sand) exhibited significantly higher and body weight gain than birds reared on wheat straw. ...
Article
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The present experiment was conducted on four hundred thirty two (432) seven day-old Japanese quail chicks for a period of 24 weeks to investigates the effects of supplementation (giloy, ascorbic acid and combination of both) along with different bedding materials (sand, saw dust and wheat straw) on body weight and body weight gain of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica). Birds were randomly and uniformly distributed in total 12 treatment groups comprising of 36 birds in each group and each group further divided into two replicates comprising 18 birds in each replicate. Highly significant (P<0.01) effect of incorporation of supplements and different bedding material was found on mean body weight and mean body weight gain. The interaction effect of bedding material and supplementation was significant on body weight and body weight gain of earlier age. The highest mean body weight and gain of Japanese quail was found in sand bedding material group. The present studies show that combination of dietary supplements giloy and vitamin-C significantly improves body weight of quail. HIGHLIGHTS m Supplementation of giloy and ascorbic acid in the diet improves body weight and body weight gain in Japanese quails. m The interaction effect of dietary supplementation with bedding material on body weight and body weight gain in Japanese quail were found significant at earlier age.
... Wood sawdust is the most common used bedding material, however there were many alternative materials that may be used such as peanut hulls (Lien et al., 1998), rice and wheat straw (Benabdeljelil and Ayachi 1996), rice hull ash Chamblee and Yeatman (2003) and other dry, absorbent, low-cost organic materials. Moreover, sand is occasionally used as a bedding material (Shields et al., 2005). Birds spend their entire life in contact with the litter 1 Department of Animal Genetics and Breeding 2 Department of Animal Nutrition *Corresponding author:Email: drnkpoonia07@gmail.com ...
Article
Full-text available
The present study investigates the effects of Giloy and ascorbic acid supplementation along with different bedding materials (sand, saw dust and wheat straw) on carcass characteristics (dressed weight or dressing percentage) of Japanese quails (Coturnix coturnix japonica). four hundred thirty two laying Japanese quails (7 day old) were divided into three of different bedding material and each bedding material group further subdivided into four groups on the basis of supplementation (control, giloy, ascorbic acid and combination of both). Thus, birds were randomly and uniformly distributed in total 12 treatment groups comprising of 36 birds in each group and each group further divided into two replicates comprising 18 birds in each replicate. Quails were fed a basal diet and the basal diet supplemented with 5 g/kg giloy supplement of diet, 240 mg of ascorbic acid/kg supplement of diet and a combination of 5 g/ kg giloy and 240 mg of ascorbic acid/kg supplement of diet. The highly significant (P<0.01) effect of incorporation of dietary supplements (giloy or ascorbic acid or combination) and different bedding material (sand, saw dust and wheat straw) was observed on carcass characteristics of Japanese quail. Interaction effect of bedding material and supplementation was found highly significant (P<0.01) on carcass characteristics (dressed weight or dressing percentage) during experiment. Numerically highest dressing percentage was found in sand as compared to other bedding material and lowest dressing percentage was found in wheat straw. The present study shows that a combination of dietary supplements of giloy and ascorbic acid significantly increases the dressed weight or dressing percentage which is beneficial for economics.
... The results showed that a combination of dietary supplements of giloy and ascorbic acid and bedding material wheat straw significantly increased egg production which is beneficial for economics. occasionally used as a bedding material (Shields et al., 2005). Birds spend their entire life in contact with the litter material. ...
Article
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The study investigated the effects of giloy (Tinospora cordifolia) and ascorbic acid supplementation along with different bedding materials (sand B1, saw dust B2 and wheat straw B3) on egg production status of Japanese quails. Total 432 chicks (7 day-old) of Japanese quails were divided into three equal groups (144 each) for different bedding material used and each group was further subdivided into four groups (each of 36 chicks) on the basis of dietary treatment (control T0, giloy T1, ascorbic acid T2 and combination of both T3). Thus birds were randomly and uniformly distributed in total 12 treatment groups comprising of 36 birds in each group and each group was further divided into two replicates comprising 18 birds in each. Quails were fed a basal diet (control, T0) and the basal diet supplemented with giloy 5 g/kg of diet, ascorbic acid 240 mg/kg diet and a combination of giloy 5 g/kg and ascorbic acid 240 mg/kg diet in dietary treatment groups T1, T2 and T3, respectively. Highly significant (p<0.01) effect of incorporation of supplements and different bedding material was found on mean total egg production and egg production per bird of Japanese quail. Total number of eggs produced and egg production per bird were found highest in group on wheat straw bedding material (B3) and on giloy plus ascorbic acid diet combination (T3). The interaction between dietary supplementation and different bedding materials was also highly significant (p<0.01) on total number of eggs produced per flock and per bird. The results showed that a combination of dietary supplements of giloy and ascorbic acid and bedding material wheat straw significantly increased egg production which is beneficial for economics.
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Commercial broilers reared under an intermittent-lighting regime produced a significantly better feed conversion than broilers reared under a continuous-lighting regime. Body weight gain was not significantly affected by light treatment. However, the number of breast trims, as recorded under commercial processing plant inspection procedures, was significantly higher for broilers reared under an intermittent-lighting regime than for those reared under a continuous-lighting regime in which the light intensity was changed during each 24-hr period.
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Live performance, carcass quality, and deboning yields of broilers reared on sand as a litter source were investigated in two consecutive trials. Viability of coccidial oocysts in litter was monitored in Trial 1 by placing 320 seeder birds (20/pen) for 10 days prior to the growout. In addition to live performance, chilled carcass grade, foot pad lesions, deboning yields, and gizzard weights were also determined after processing. No differences were found for litter moisture, litter temperature, mortality, or average body weight, between the two litter treatments. Gizzard yields were significantly lower for birds reared on sand than for birds reared on pine shavings. No significant differences were observed in litter coliforms, aerobic plate counts, molds, or oocyst counts between the two treatments. The results obtained in this study confirm earlier findings that sand can be used as a litter material for rearing broilers.
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Sand was used as a litter material for broilers in three successive trials, in which 1600 straight-run chicks were reared either on sand or pine shavings as litter source. Body weight (by sex), feed conversion, and mortality were determined at 51 days (Trial 1), 49 days (Trial 2), and 50 days (Trial 3). Chilled carcass grade, foot pad lesions (all trials), and yield (Trial 3) were determined after processing. Litter ammonia production rate (Trial 2) and microbiological quality (Trial 3) were also evaluated. No differences were found for litter moisture, temperature, ammonia production, mortality, feed conversion, or foot pad lesions between the two litter treatments. Broilers reared on sand had significantly greater straight-run (Trial 1) and male body weights (Trials 1 and 2) than birds reared on pine shavings. Abdominal fat yields for birds reared on sand were significantly lower than for birds reared on pine shavings, whereas no significant differences were present in chilled carcass yields (Trial 3). Coliforms (including E. coli) and aerobic plate counts were significantly lower for sand than for pine shavings. Sand has shown good potential as an alternative litter material for rearing broilers.
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Under the hypothesis that young domestic fowl, Gallus gallus, are motivated to seek opportunities to explore novel stimuli, it was predicted that broiler chickens would show greater motivation to enter peripheral space if it contained (a) novel objects (changed daily) than if it was (b) empty or contained (c) essential resources (food, water, heat) or (d) supplementary resources (peat moss, straw bale, elevated platform). Sixteen pens, each containing 100 chickens, were set up with a home area containing essential resources and an adjacent peripheral area of the same size to which the chickens were allowed access for 3 h daily by opening a gate. There were four replicate pens on each of four treatments varying in the resources (a–d) provided in the peripheral area. During week 6, continuous video recordings showed that more chickens on the novel objects treatment ran into the peripheral area during the first 5 min after the gates were opened than did chickens on the other three treatments (P0.05). The results support the hypothesis that the chickens were motivated to seek opportunities to explore novel stimuli.
Chapter
The principal functions of most bones are to provide shape and withstand repetitive load-bearing. The function of bone tissue is to provide both a load-bearing material and an available repository for mineral. The functional responsibilities of bone and bones can only be discharged through the agency of populations of cells whose activity must be regulated, coordinated, and controlled accordingly.
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Dustbathing in laying hens ( Gallus gallus domesticus ) serves to remove excessive feather lipids which accumulate and become stale during dust deprivation. In addition and probably as a consequence of lipid removal the fluffiness of the downy feather parts is enhanced. A dustbath consists of appetitive tossings and consummatory rubbings. Its function as well as its organization depend on the nature of the bathing litter. The uninterrupted performance of rubbing is crucial and predicts consistent bathing litter preferences. An increase in stale feather lipids enhances the tendency to bathe, while sham-dustbathing occurs during dust deprivation. However, during long-term deprivation sham-dustbathing develops abnormally. This seems due to intrinsic reinforcement. Long-term deprivation of functional stimulation prescribed by phylogenetical standards may result in an uncontrollable motivation to dustbathe.
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This book discusses the scientific basis for the measurement and auditing of the welfare of broilers for meat production. It is divided into three parts, where Part 1 presents the ways in which the birds can serve as indicators of welfare, Part 2 examines some of the more important aspects the chickens' environment and feed that may affect their welfare and Part 3 presents the practical issues concerning the measurement and auditing of broiler welfare. The 23 chapters include discussions on lameness, measuring and auditing the welfare of broiler breeders, pododermatitis and hock burn, the impact of metabolic disorders on welfare, morbidity and mortality of infectious diseases, abnormal behaviour and fear, biosecurity, feed, light, air hygiene, stocking density, transport and handling, poultry processing, comparison of welfare in different systems, human factors influencing broiler welfare, auditing systems, farm assurance and welfare in the UK, the use of models in assessing welfare, development and implementation of a welfare audit in the Australian chicken meat industry, the significance of broiler welfare, public attitudes and expectations to welfare, broiler welfare standards and automation in measuring chicken behaviour and welfare. An index is also included at the end of the book. This book will be of significant interest to legislators, poultry producers and those working in quality assurance, meat and food science, veterinary medicine and animal behaviour and welfare.
Article
Leg abnormalities leading to lameness in broiler chickens are a serious welfare problem. Previous work in our laboratory demonstrated that providing broiler chickens with the opportunity to exercise by performing more natural behaviors (such as perching, walking up and down inclines and dustbathing) can improve their ability to walk normally [J.A. Mench, J.P. Garner, C. Falcone, Behavioral activity and its effects on leg problems in broiler chickens, in: H. Oester, C. Wyss (Eds.), Proceedings of the Sixth European Symposium on Poultry Welfare, World’s Poultry Science Association, Zollikofen, Switzerland, 2001, pp. 152–156]. With the long-term goal of stimulating dustbathing to improve leg condition, the aim of this study was to determine the dustbathing substrate preferred by broiler chickens. We conducted a dustbathing choice test experiment using four different bedding types (pine wood shavings, rice hulls, construction grade sand, and a recycled paper animal bedding product). Four different broiler chickens were tested each week for 6 weeks starting when the chicks were 1 week old. They were selected from two groups of broiler chickens housed in large home pens bedded with wood shavings. Selected birds were tested in smaller pens where they were deprived of all loose bedding material except during testing, which was carried out for 1 h each day for three consecutive days per week. During an observation, each corner of the test pen was filled with a different bedding type, and the behavior of the focal chick recorded. Vertical wing shakes (VWS) were used as the primary measure of dustbathing activity. Broilers performed significantly more VWS per hour in sand (F3,36=13.52, P<0.0005) and spent a greater proportion of their total time in sand (F5,60=5.15, P=0.001) than in the rice hulls, paper, or wood shavings. They also visited the sand significantly more often than the paper or the wood shavings (F5,60=96.47, P<0.0005). There were no dustbaths in the rice hulls. The latency to enter sand was significantly shorter than the latency to enter any of the other three substrates (F3,15=5.24, P=0.0113). Ground pecking generally precedes a dustbathing bout, and the rate of pecking and the proportion of the total time budget spent pecking were also highest for sand (F3,51=24.49, P<0.0001 and F3,51=15.28, P<0.0001, respectively). The preference for sand was apparent in the first week, and was stable with age. The results of this study suggest that sand is attractive to broiler chickens and is a potent stimulus for dustbathing. Further work is needed to determine if stimulating broiler chickens to dustbathe by providing sand can improve their leg condition, and thus their welfare.
Article
Leg abnormalities leading to lameness in broiler chickens are a serious welfare problem. Previous work in our laboratory demonstrated that providing broiler chickens with the opportunity to exercise by performing more natural behaviors (such as perching, walking up and down inclines and dustbathing) can improve their ability to walk normally [J.A. Mench, J.P. Garner, C. Falcone, Behavioral activity and its effects on leg problems in broiler chickens, in: H. Oester, C. Wyss (Eds.), Proceedings of the Sixth European Symposium on Poultry Welfare, World’s Poultry Science Association, Zollikofen, Switzerland, 2001, pp. 152–156]. With the long-term goal of stimulating dustbathing to improve leg condition, the aim of this study was to determine the dustbathing substrate preferred by broiler chickens. We conducted a dustbathing choice test experiment using four different bedding types (pine wood shavings, rice hulls, construction grade sand, and a recycled paper animal bedding product). Four different broiler chickens were tested each week for 6 weeks starting when the chicks were 1 week old. They were selected from two groups of broiler chickens housed in large home pens bedded with wood shavings. Selected birds were tested in smaller pens where they were deprived of all loose bedding material except during testing, which was carried out for 1h each day for three consecutive days per week. During an observation, each corner of the test pen was filled with a different bedding type, and the behavior of the focal chick recorded. Vertical wing shakes (VWS) were used as the primary measure of dustbathing activity. Broilers performed significantly more VWS per hour in sand (F3,36=13.52, P
Article
Roosting increases the survival of wild relatives of domestic birds. Thus, we expected chickens to choose to roost on perches. We predicted that birds would use angled perches more than horizontal ones because an angled roost would be more similar to tree branches and thus more attractive to the birds, and also easier for the birds to access. We assigned 768 male broilers to 16 pens in a 4 treatment×4 replication randomized complete block design. Each of the four pens within each block contained one of the following treatments: 0° treatment (three 0° perches); 20° treatment (three 20° perches); mixed angle treatment (one 0°, 10° and 20° perch); and a control (no perches). Angled perches were designed to slope upward from the floor to facilitate access to the perches by broilers at all ages. A combination of differently angled perches within the same pen (mixed angled treatment) provided more roosting choices at all ages, as well as allowed the birds to use different angled perches as their size and strength changed with age. The perch designs differed significantly only in height at one end (slope). Perches were constructed of 1.9 cm inside diameter polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes, and were 91 cm in length with 5 equally spaced 28 cm long PVC crossbars. Perch use was recorded every 15 min for three consecutive hours, 4 days each week from day 3 to 42 using instantaneous scan sampling. Mean perch use was low across all treatments (2%), possibly due to heavy body weight and high ambient temperature in later weeks. However, distinct perching patterns were identified. Perch use was highest in the 0° treatment and lowest in the 20° treatment. Within the mixed angle treatment, 0° perch use was highest, followed by 10° and 20° perch use, respectively. Perching generally increased with age but peaked at week 5. A decline in perching occurred at week 6, a period during which the birds had the heaviest body weights and ambient temperatures remained high. We determined that perching increased with age of bird (through week 5), decreased with hotter temperatures, was greater for perches with lower angles (0° and 10°), and followed a daily crepuscular pattern.