Broiler chicken production is widely dispersed across the globe, and one important issue for growers is the selection of adequate bedding material, as the availability and price of substrates varies among countries and regions within a same country. This study aimed at applying a multiple criteria analysis approach for the selection of the most appropriate bedding material for broiler productio...

Two trials were conducted to investigate the effect of availability of perches on indices of leg weakness in broiler chickens. A third trial investigated the effect of litter substrate on similar indices of leg weakness in broiler chickens. Leg weakness traits examined were walking ability and tibial dyschondroplasia, tibial curvature, foot burn, and hock burn. Body weight was also measured in ...

The possible sources of Campylobacter spp. in poultry meat before slaughter were studied by examining samples of feathers, cloaca swabs, litter swabs, transport coops, rinse water from coop washing equipment, and chicken breast supports in the slaughter line just before stunning. The samples were collected from 8 broiler houses and from 8 different producers, from a poultry integration system i...

Contamination of soil interstitial waters by labile heavy metals such as Cu(II), Cd(II), and Ni(II) is of worldwide concern. Carbonaceous materials such as char and activated carbon have received considerable attention in recent years as soil amendment for both sequestering heavy metal contaminants and releasing essential nutrients like sulfur. Information is currently lacking in how aging impa...

The suitability of leaves for use as broiler litter was evaluated in four 49-d floor pen trials of 150 Avian × Avian female chickens each. In each trial, 25 broiler chicks were weighed and randomly assigned to one of six pens at a density of 1.2 m2 per bird. There were two replicates of each of the following three treatments: 1) pine wood shaving (control), 2) a mix of 50% pine wood shaving and...

Broiler chicks were reared on either wet litter or dry litter to compare the development of footpad dermatitis (FPD). Broilers reared on wet litter first developed FPD at 14 days of age. Their FPD scores increased sharply after 21 days of age, reaching 2.92 at 42 days. In broilers reared on dry litter, FPD was first observed at 28 days of age, and the FPD score was only 0.70 at 42 days. When 21...

Moisture content (MC) of poultry manure or litter affects its ammonia (NH 3 ) emissions. Relating MC to ammonia emission of manure or litter is thus of importance to modeling and/or managing ammonia emissions from the manure sources. Development of such relationships would require the knowledge of ammonia emission and the concomitant MC of the manure or litter. This work was carried out to char...

Two commercially available litter treatments, aluminum sulfate and sodium bisulfate, were tested to determine their effect on Campylobacter and Salmonella levels associated with commercial broilers during a 6-wk grow-out period. A total of 20 broiler houses at 10 different locations were studied; 5 aluminum sulfate-treated houses, 5 sodium bisulfate-treated houses, and 10 paired, untreated cont...

BACKGROUND Lighting is used during conventional broiler grow-out to modify bird behaviour to reach the goals of production and improve bird welfare. The protocols for lighting intensity vary. In a field study, we evaluated if the lighting practices impact the burden of Salmonella in broiler flocks. METHODS Conventional grow-out flocks reared in the states of Alabama, Mississippi and Texas, US...