The effect of season on the health and welfare of broiler chickens

The study was conducted in 80 broiler flocks raised in Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn in commercial broiler enterprises contracted to big commercial companies in Uşak city center and its districts. The animal material consisted of Ross 308 hybrid broiler birds. In season groups, each flock was investigated for 0-42 days for the traits related to performance, animal health, and animal welfare. Body weight, weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, mortality rate, and herd health score were analyzed weekly and for periods 0-21, 22-42, and 0-42 days. The season significantly affected to the body weight gain, feed consumption, feed efficiency, mortality, animal health, and food pad dermaditis of the broiler birds raised unders commercial conditions. The technical performance of the broiler flocks was higher in Spring and Autumn compared to Winter and Summer seasons. The percentage of healthy flocks was higher in the Spring and Autumn groups, while the disease score was highest in the Winter flocks. The ratios of birds with food fad dermatitis and huck burn were highest in Winter flocks and lowest in Summer flocks. The results revealed that the season has a direct or combined effect with other environmental factors on the economic efficiency of the broiler industry, broiler meat production capacity, product quality, and animal welfare. It is concluded that each season should be considered separately for the success of management of environmental factors in flock management in broiler breeding. Keywords: Broiler chicken, Season, Animal Health, Animal Welfare