Biotechnology in Animal Husbandry 2012 Volume 28, Issue 2, Pages: 353-360
https://doi.org/10.2298/BAH1202353S
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The effect of the diet on incidence of footpad lesions and productivity of broilers
Škrbić Z. (Institute for Animal Husbandry, Belgrade)
Pavlovski Z. (Institute for Animal Husbandry, Belgrade)
Lukić M. (Institute for Animal Husbandry, Belgrade)
Petričević V. (Institute for Animal Husbandry, Belgrade)
Miljković B. (Scientific Institute of veterinary medicine of Serbia, Belgrade)
Marinkov G. (Institute for Animal Husbandry, Belgrade)
Nutrition factors are considered to be very important for incidence of
foot-pad dermatitis through the effect on the quality of litter. Objective of
this study was to investigate the effect of the use of two feeding programs
for broilers available on the market and declared in the
nutritional/economical sense as standard and economical, on quality of
litter, incidence of leg dermatitis (foot-pad and hock burns) and production
performance. Trial was carried out on 500 one day old chickens of Hubbard
genotype, in two treatments and five replicates. Chopped straw was used as
litter. During the trial, the mortality and food consumption were monitored,
and at the end of trial the body mass was controlled, as well as the
incidence of foot-pad and hock burns and their severity were evaluated and
quality of litter analyzed. Research results indicate significant effect of
the diets from the aspect of broiler welfare and productivity. Application of
the feeding program declared in the nutritional/economical sense as
economical resulted in higher content of litter moisture, significantly
higher frequency of incidence of the most severe forms of foot-pad dermatitis
and significantly lower broiler performance.
Keywords: broilers, diets, foot-pad dermatitis, productivity