title: Effects of sawdust thickness on the growth performance, environmental condition, and welfare quality of yellow broilers.
abstract: An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of litter thickness on growth performance, immune status, environmental condition, and welfare quality in yellow broilers. In total, 1,800 one-day-old Suqin yellow broilers were raised for 21 d. On d 22, 1,600 birds of similar BW (404±12 g) were randomly selected and placed into 20 indoor pens (8 birds/m2, 10 m2/pen). These birds were assigned to a litter treatment of 4, 8, 12, and 16 cm. Each treatment was repeated in five pens. The results showed that a thicker litter was related to increased BW, daily weight gain, and daily feed intake (P<0.001). Feed conversion ratio and mortality were unaffected by litter thickness (P=0.320, P=0.353, respectively). Absolute and relative liver weights showed a significant linear response to increasing litter thickness (P=0.01, P=0.001, respectively). The litter moisture content, air ammonia, and CO2 content decreased, whereas the air dust content increased with increasing litter thickness (P<0.001, P=0.017, P=0.033, P<0.001, respectively). Litter thickness had no effect on gait, plumage damage, hock burn or breast skin crusting (P = 0.076, P=0.964, P=0.131, P=0.401, respectively). Plumage cleanliness, foot pad dermatitis, hock swelling and breast blister varied significantly with litter thickness (P=0.027, P=0.011, P=0.014, P=0.042, respectively). The results of this study suggest that an increasing litter thickness has a beneficial effect on the growth performance, environmental condition and welfare of birds.
authors.affiliation: Poultry Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China yzshaodan@163.com.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shao
authors.affiliation: Poultry Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Jiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Poultry Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Poultry Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Poultry Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Poultry Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Shou Rong
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.affiliation: Poultry Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China.
authors.forename: Tong Hai
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Bing
mesh_terms: D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis; D000822:Animal Husbandry / Q000379:methods*; D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D002645:Chickens / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology*; D002681:China; D005430:Floors and Floorcoverings; D006799:Housing, Animal
keywords: environmental condition; growth performance; litter thickness; welfare quality