Comparative behavioral investigation of hybrid broilers of varying genetic stock
Abstract
Ethograms of modern broiler hybrids also show changes in resting and exercise behavior. Resting behavior, when compared to the phenotype, is markedly extended, particularly towards the end of the fattening period. Animals appear to prefer the floor for resting, as opposed to the usual raised perches. When compared to the usual variety of single elements, exercise behavior appears to be reduced, both sequentially and in the context of other functional cycles, demonstrating a lower frequency as well as a shortened time span. The restrictions imposed on the habitat environment by intensive broiler husbandry systems, such as the complete lack of room or surface structure, raised perches, unrestricted outdoor access and natural lighting of the animal housing areas contribute to these observed behavior patterns.The observations named above raise the question of whether this behavioral variance in modern, high-performance hybrid broilers is motivational in nature, because of higher daily gains and the proportioning of muscle growth in order to increase the weight of valuable chicken parts, or whether morphological changes with regard to muscle distribution could be responsible for these discrepancies in resting and exercise behaviors. In order to investigate this question, a quantitative and qualitative comparison was made between the behavior patterns of a hybrid broiler line with a high performance potential (Group 1), a hybrid broiler line with a moderate performance potential (Group 2), and with chickens from an autochthonous broiler breed, each housed in a species-appropriate environment.
keywords broiler poultry behaviour performance
Publikationen
Project staff
Sigurd Konrad
Ao.Univ.Prof.i.R. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.nat.techn. Sigurd Konrad
sigurd.konrad@boku.ac.at
Project Leader
01.01.2000 - 31.12.2000
BOKU partners
External partners
Landeslandwirtschaftskammer für Oberösterreich
R. Huber
partner