Modern broilers are selected for fast growth and a large proportion of
breast tissue, contributing to a top-heavy
phenotype, leg disorders, and inactivity as birds reach market weight. Therefore, the objective was to motivate broilers to move through environmental enrichment. Twelve hundred Ross 308 broilers were housed in pens of 30 for 6 wk; 600 birds were exposed to a novel
laser enrichment device (
LASER) and 600 were control. Each device projected 2 randomly moving
red laser dots onto the floor 4 times / day for 4-min “
laser periods”. Seven
LASER and 7 control pens, with 5 focal birds / pen (n=70), were randomly selected to be video-recorded d0-8 and
once weekly for the remainder of the trial. Videos were analyzed to measure
broiler time-budget and behaviors such latency to feed and distance walked during
laser periods. Focal birds were
gait scored weekly on-farm. A test of the Human-Approach Paradigm was carried out on wk 1 and 6 on all pens.
LASER birds were more active on d0, 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8, moving 254% more on d7 (P≤0.05). Time spent active was increased in
LASER treatment by 114% on wk 2; 157% on wk 3; 90% on wk 4; and 82% on wk 5. LASER birds spent more time at the feeder on d0, 1, 2, 5, 8, and on wk 1 and 5, with 84% more time at feeder than control on d5 (P≤0.05). LASER birds walked further during laser periods on d0-8, reaching 646.5 cm greater (d1), and on wk 2, 3, 4, and 5, with an increase of 367.5 cm on wk 2 (P≤0.05). Over wk 1-6, 60.54±7.4% of focal birds in the
laser treatment were at the feeder during or within 5 mins following laser periods. The laser enrichment device was successful in stimulating
broiler physical activity and feeding and did not negatively
impact walking ability.Key words:
broiler, environmental enrichment, well-being, lameness, behavior