Comparative Evaluation of Hanging Objects as Environmental Enrichment Tools on Broiler Behavior, Welfare, Growth,...

This study evaluated the effects of different environmental enrichment tools on broiler chickens from 1 to 21 days of age. A total of 120,000 one-day-old broiler chicks were randomly assigned to five treatments, each consisting of four replicates with 6000 birds per replicate. Replicates were housed in pens measuring approximately 362 m². The treatments included: T1, green balls (approximately 40 balls per pen); T2, hanging toys (8-10 toys per pen); T3, hanging strings (8-10 string bundles per pen); T4, rotational use of green balls, hanging toys, and strings at equivalent densities; and T5, a control group without enrichment. Data were collected on growth performance, foot health, behavioral activity, serum biochemical parameters, and carcass and meat quality traits. Birds provided with hanging enrichment tools showed significantly improved growth performance (p ≤ 0.05) compared with the control group. Among enriched treatments, T2 yielded the highest body weight and weight gain, as well as the lowest feed conversion ratio. Enrichment treatments also resulted in significant improvements (p ≤ 0.05) in carcass characteristics and selected meat quality parameters, including lightness (L*) and pH stability. Behavioral observations indicated substantially higher activity levels in enriched groups relative to the control. Toe damage scores differed significantly among treatments (p = 0.004), with the lowest scores observed in T1 and the highest in T4; however, no significant differences were detected in footpad dermatitis or hock burn scores (p > 0.05). In conclusion, hanging environmental enrichment tools, particularly hanging toys, can effectively enhance growth performance, behavioral activity, and selected carcass and meat quality traits in broiler production systems, while their effects on footpad health appear limited under the conditions of this study.