Environmental Enrichment for Broiler Breeders: An Undeveloped Field
نویسندگان
چکیده
Welfare problems, such as hunger, frustration, aggression, and abnormal sexual behavior, are commonly found in broiler breeder production. To prevent or reduce these welfare problems, it has been suggested to provide stimulating enriched environments. We review the effect of the different types of environmental enrichment for broiler breeders, which have been described in the scientific literature, on behavior and welfare. Environmental enrichment is defined as an improvement of the environment of captive animals, which increases the behavioral opportunities of the animal and leads to improvements in biological function. This definition has been broadened to include practical and economic aspects as any enrichment strategy that adversely affects the health of animals (e.g., environmental hygiene), or that has too many economic or practical constraints will never be implemented on commercial farms and thus never benefit animals. Environmental enrichment for broiler breeders often has the purpose of satisfying the behavioral motivations for feeding and foraging, resting, and/or encouraging normal sexual behavior. Potentially successful enrichments for broiler breeders are elevated resting places, cover panels, and substrate (for broiler breeders housed in cage systems). However, most of the ideas for environmental enrichment for broiler breeders need to be further developed and studied with respect to the use, the effect on behavior and welfare, and the interaction with genotype and production system. In addition, information on practical use and the economics of the production system is often lacking although it is important for application in practice.
منابع مشابه
Effects of Age of Broiler Breeders and Egg Storage on Egg Quality, Hatchability, Chick Quality, Chick Weight, and Chick Posthatch Growth to Forty-Two Days
Nutritional and environmental conditions influence broiler flock performance. Besides these factors, other less-well-understood factors, such as incubating egg characteristics, affect the embryonic life of chicks. This study demonstrated that egg storage depressed egg albumen Haugh units (HU) and chick quality; these effects of storage were greater in egg and chicks from old breeders. Absolute ...
متن کاملModeling Energy Utilization in Broiler Breeders, Laying Hens and Broilers
The factorial approach has been used to partition the energy requirements into maintenance, growth, and production. The coefficients determined for these purposes can be used to elaborate energy requirement models. These models consider the body weight, weight gain, egg production, and environmental temperature to determine the energy requirements for poultry. Predicting daily energy requiremen...
متن کاملComparisons of sperm storage tubule distribution and number in 4 strains of mature broiler breeders and in turkey hens before and after the onset of photostimulation.
The biological basis of sustained fertility in broiler and turkey hens is their capacity to store sperm in the oviductal sperm storage tubules (SST) located in the uterovaginal junction. The objectives of this study were to determine if the numbers of SST varied between 4 strains of broiler breeders and determine the number of SST in the turkey before (less than 9 d of photostimulation) and aft...
متن کاملEffect of Salmonella vaccination of breeder chickens on contamination of broiler chicken carcasses in integrated poultry operations.
While measures to control carcass contamination with Salmonella at the processing plant have been implemented with some success, on-farm interventions that reduce Salmonella prevalence in meat birds entering the processing plant have not translated well on a commercial scale. We determined the impact of Salmonella vaccination on commercial poultry operations by monitoring four vaccinated and fo...
متن کاملSalinomycin Toxicosis in Broiler Breeders and Turkeys: Report of the First Case
The objective of this study was to describe two clinical cases of toxicosis by accidental administration of salinomycin in feed in broiler breeders and turkeys. In the first clinical case, a 32000 broiler breeders flock, 30 weeks of age, suffered a severe mortality during the first week, a sharp decrease in egg production and a dramatic reduction in food consumption together with an increase of...
متن کامل