The effects of floor design on body defects, behavior, welfare traits and litter (manure) moisture in broiler production

This study was carried out to determine the effects of different levels of littered and slatted floor applications welfare, behavior and litter quality characteristics of broilers. Thus, it is aimed to minimize the negativities arising from both systems by combining the littered and slatted systems and to reveal the advantages by using these systems together. It consisted of five treatment groups: full littered, full slatted, ½ littered + ½ slatted, 1/3 littered + 2/3 slatted, and 2/3 littered +1/3 slatted. Each treatment consisted of 5 replicates and 120 day-old chicks whose starting weights were taken were randomly distributed. In the study, active, passive and comfort behaviors of broilers were determined for three times a day (9.00, 13.00 and 17.00) in each treatment group at 6, 13, 20, 27, 34 and 41 days of age. Different floor design practices (p<0.001), age (p<0.001) and day-time periods (p<0.001) significantly affected the percentage of chickens showing passive, active and comfort behavior. Higher levels of sleeping, exploratory and feather care behaviors and lower walking, foraging, drinking and dust bathing behaviors were observed in the full-slatted chickens. While the percentage of chicks showing active behaviors tended to decrease significantly with advancing age, passive and comfort behaviors increased (p<0.001). While the effect of different floor treatments and sex on tonic immobility (TI) duration was not significant, the TI arousals number was significantly lowest in full littered males and highest in full slatted females (p<0.001). The use of different levels of slatted and littered floor affected the gait score of the broilers, and the males in the slatted system had the worst score (p<0.001). There were no significant differences between treatments in terms of litter moisture contents. This study revealed that different floor treatments affect the welfare, behavioral characteristics and incidence of body defects in broilers.