Plastic Flooring as a Bedding Alternative: A Welfare Trade-Off for Broiler Chickens

Area of Science:

• Animal Science
• Poultry Science
• Veterinary Medicine

Background:

• Locomotor disorders are a significant welfare concern in broiler chickens.
• Conventional bedding like wood shavings is common, but alternatives are being explored.
• Plastic flooring offers potential benefits but requires careful evaluation regarding animal health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of plastic flooring, with and without an antimicrobial additive, on broiler chicken behavior and locomotion.
• To compare these systems against traditional wood shavings bedding.
• To identify optimal bedding strategies for broiler welfare and health.

Main Methods:

• 1500 Ross 408 broiler chickens were used in a completely randomized design with five treatments (wood shavings, plastic flooring, plastic flooring + wood shavings, plastic flooring with additive, plastic flooring with additive + wood shavings).
• Behavioral observations, thermographic assessments, body surface, foot, and bed temperatures, and locomotor health scores were recorded.
• Data were collected on various days up to 42 days of age.

Main Results:

• No significant effect of bedding on overall body temperature was observed.
• Broiler chickens on plastic flooring (with or without additive) showed increased sitting times, poorer locomotor scores, and higher lesion incidence at 40 days.
• Exclusive plastic flooring use by 42 days led to impaired locomotion and aggravated joint lesions.

Conclusions:

• Exclusive use of plastic flooring in broiler production can negatively impact locomotion and increase joint lesions.
• Combining plastic flooring with wood shavings is recommended to mitigate negative effects on broiler chicken health.
• Nanotechnological antimicrobial additives on plastic flooring did not prevent locomotor issues in this study.