Performance, Carcass Yield, Hematological Parameters, and Feather Pecking Damage of Thai Indigenous Chickens Raised Indoors or with Outdoor Access

Authors: W. Molee, P. Puttaraksa, S. Pitakwong, S. Khempaka

Abstract:

An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of the rearing system on growth performance, carcass yield, hematological parameters, and feather pecking damage of Thai indigenous chickens. Three hundred and sixty 1-d-old chicks were randomly assigned to 2 treatments: indoor treatment and outdoor access treatment. In the indoor treatment, the chickens were housed in floor pens (5 birds/m2). In the outdoor access treatment, the chickens were housed in a similar indoor house; in addition, they also had an outdoor grass paddock (1 bird/m2). All birds were provided with same diet and were raised for 16 wk of age. The results showed that growth performance and carcass yield were not different among treatment (P>0.05). Outdoor access had no effect on hematological parameters (P>0.05). However, the feather pecking damage of the chickens in the outdoor access treatment was lower than that of the chickens in the indoor treatment (P<0.05).

Keywords: Hematology, performance, rearing system, Thai indigenous chickens

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1062706

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