access to barrier perches improves behavior repertoire in broilers进入障碍栖息改善行为在肉鸡曲目.pdfVIP

Access to Barrier Perches Improves Behavior Repertoire in Broilers 1¤ 1 1,2,3 Beth A. Ventura , Frank Siewerdt , Inma Estevez * 1 Department of Animal and Avian Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America, 2 IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, Alameda Urquijo, Spain, 3 Neiker Tecnalia, Arkaute Agrifood Campus, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain Abstract Restriction of behavioral opportunities and uneven use of space are considerable welfare concerns in modern broiler production, particularly when birds are kept at high densities. We hypothesized that increased environmental complexity by provision of barrier perches would help address these issues by encouraging perching and enhancing use of the pen space across a range of stocking densities. 2,088 day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to one of the following barrier and density treatment combinations over four replications: simple barrier, complex barrier, or control (no barrier) and low (8 birds/m2 2 2 ), moderate (13 birds/m ), or high (18 birds/m ) density. Data were collected on focal birds via instantaneous scan sampling from 2 to 6 weeks of age. Mean estimates per pen for percent of observations seen performing each behavior, as well as percent of observations in the pen periphery vs. center, were quantified and submitted to an analysis of variance with week as the repeated measure. Barrier perches, density and age affected the behavioral time budget of broilers. Both simple and complex barrier perches effectively stimulated high perching rates. Aggression and disturbances were lower in both barrier treatments compared to controls (P,0.05). Increasing density to 18 birds/m2 compared to the