Management of broiler chickens using footpad and breast lesions, dustbathing behavior, and fecal microbial load as indicators

Abstract

This study was conducted on 180-day-old Ross 308 broiler chicks to investigate the effects of litter management strategies on footpad and breast lesions, dust-bathing and faecal microbial load. The chicks were divided into 3 groups: T1 = no-litter-change, T2 = litter changed at 7 days interval and T3 = litter changed at 14 days interval. Each treatment group had 60 birds, and this was replicated six times, with each replicate consisting of 10 birds, in a completely randomized experimental design. The study was conducted over a period of 8 weeks, and the resulting data were analyzed using a one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) procedure to determine the effects of the different treatments. Results revealed birds in T1 recorded the highest frequency of dust-bathing than their counterparts in T2 and T3. Minor breast lesions were also observed in 13.33% and 16.67% of birds in T2 and T3, respectively. Birds in T1 showed a significant increase (P<0.05) in faecal bacteria isolates compared to treatment groups T2 and T3. The birds in treatment group T2 showed a significant decrease (P<0.05) in protozoa isolates compared to those in treatment groups T1 and T3. Therefore, no-litter-change improved welfare and comfort of broiler chickens with the expression of the highest frequency of dust-bathing without the presence of breast and foot pad lesions. However, litter change at 14 days interval reduced faecal bacterial contamination.