A study on the behavior of broiler chicken during day time

Abstract

A proper understanding of the behavior of broiler chicken under different management and climatic conditions is of importance to maximize the profit of farmers and welfare standards of the birds. Objective of this study was to appraise and compare the behavior of broiler chicken during three different times (morning, afternoon and evening) of the day. Twenty days old broiler chicken (n=72) were randomly allocated into six cages having paddy husk litter. Each cage had a drinker and a feeder. Eleven predetermined postures/behaviors were studied during three sessions; morning (9.00-10.00am), afternoon (1.00-2.00 pm) and evening (4.00-5.00 pm) for five days, starting from day 29. In each session of observation, each cage was observed four times within an hour and the number of birds engaged in eleven behaviors/postures (walking, standing, eating, drinking, litter/mesh interaction, wing flapping, feather pecking, lying, dust bathing and inter bird interactions) were recorded. The number of birds engaged in standing, litter eating, and lying were not significantly (P>0.05) affected by the times of the observation. Irrespective of the time of the day, lying (33%), eating (31%) and drinking (10%) were the most prominent behaviors birds engaged with. The percentage of birds engaged in walking was significantly (P<0.01) lower during afternoon (4.2%) than during morning (6.3%) and evening (6.9%). Eating behavior was significantly (P<0.05) higher during morning whereas drinking was significantly (p<0.001) higher during evening. Wing flapping was significantly (p<0.001) higher during evening. Dust bathing behavior was not observed during evening. Significantly more birds engaged in dust bathing during afternoon (1.38%) than during morning (0.32%). It was concluded that lying, eating and drinking are the most pronounced day time behavioral traits of broiler chicken aged 29-33 days and many behavioral traits are affected by the time of the day.