Litter type Preferences made by broiler chicks during the brooding.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine whether broiler chicks during their brooding period have a particular preference for paddy husk (PH) or for saw dust (SD) litters. On analyzing the data, it was discovered that the percentages of chicks on PH litter at 8 am, 12 noon and 6 pm were 50.73, 50.75 and 49.55, respectively and were not significantly different (P>0.05) from (the) respective values for SD. The intake of feed and water made by the groups of chickens from the feeders and drinkers placed on each litter type was also not significantly different (P>0.05). Chicks younger than 13 days showed significantly (P<0.00 I) higher preference for PH than for SD while chicks older than 13 days showed significantly (P<0.001) higher preference for SD than for PH. Subsequently, when averaged over the whole 15 day period, the observed numbers of birds on PH (37.76) and SD (37.23) litters were similar (p = 0.419) to the expected number (3 7 .5). While the littler type preferences of the chicks were discovered so, further research is needed to determine as to why the litter type preference changed as the birds grew.