Effects of transport time and feeding type on weight loss, meat quality and behavior of broilers

Abstract

Objective The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal time of transportation of floor-feed and scatter-feed broilers. Methods Eighty healthy Arbor Acres (AA) broilers (21-day-old, 624.4 g, male, standard error = 6.65) were selected and randomly divided into two experimental groups (floor-feed and scatter-feed), then fed for three weeks. The experiment comprised a 2×4 factorial design with 2 feed patterns (floor-feed and scatter-feed) and 4 transport periods (2, 3, 4, and 5 h), and 4 replicates of 5 broilers (54-day-old, 2243 g, standard error = 46.65) was used to compare weight loss, meat quality and behavior index of different groups. Results It appeared that drip loss, meat color and resting behavior of experimental broilers changed as length of transportation (p0.05). Compared with floor-feed group, broilers in scatter-feed group had lower pH at 24 hours (3 h) and different behavioral indicators (p0.05). Conclusion Comprehensive analysis showed that the maximum transport duration of floor-feed and scatter-feed broilers should not exceed 3 h, and scatter-feed broilers were more likely prone to fear.

Keywords

• arbor acres broiler
• feeding methods
• meat quality
• stress behavior
• transport time
• weight loss