HABRI Central

Environmental enrichment has the potential to benefit the welfare of farm animals. In poultry, panels and perches are two of the most commonly used forms of enrichment but few studies have determined their effects under commercial conditions. The aim of this work was to assess the impact of these forms of enrichment on the behaviour of slow-growth free range meat chickens. The study was conducted in four commercial farms each with 3900 birds, housed in three independent houses with access to an outdoor area. One house in each farm was outfitted with indoor and outdoor panels, the second with perches, and the third house was used as a control and had no enrichment. In each house 40 birds were tagged for individual recognition. Focal observations were performed from 6 to 12 weeks of age, with thirty 5 min focal samples collected in each house in the indoor and outdoor areas alternatively. In addition, the location (in XY coordinates) of tagged birds inside and out, and their behaviour, was also collected. We did not find a main effect of treatment on the behaviour inside or outside the house ( P>0.05). However, the interaction between treatment and week of age for standing ( P

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

1. Animal behavior
2. Animals
3. Animal welfare
4. Birds
5. Commerce
6. Dwellings
7. Effect
8. Enrichment
9. Fowls
10. growing strains
11. Interactions
12. Livestock
13. peer-reviewed
14. Poultry
15. Research
16. vertebrates