Providing environmental enrichments can reduce subclinical spondylolisthesis prevalence without affecting performance in broiler chickens.

ABSTRACT: Environmental enrichment can increase the occurrence of natural behavior and improve leg health and other animal welfare outcomes in broiler chickens. This study aimed to assess the effects of three environmental enrichments, specifically hay bales, step platforms, and laser lights, on subclinical spondylolisthesis prevalence, productivity, behavior, and gait of broiler chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus). Twenty-four hundred day-old male Ross® AP95 chicks from a commercial hatchery were used in a completely randomized design with four treatments and four replicate pens per treatment. Pens contained either a Control (C) treatment, an environment similar to a commercial broiler chicken system without environmental enrichments, or an environment with either additional hay bales (HB), additio

SUBMITTER: Lourenco da Silva MI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10081764 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature