Abstract:
Behaviour and welfare of broilers are affected by the type and the quality of litter substrate.
Objective of the study was to determine the most suitable litter material for broilers in terms
of preference, welfare indicators and growth performance. In experiment 1, preference for
paddy husk (PH), saw dust (SD), wood shavings (WS), refused tea (RT) and dry leaves
(DL) as litter materials was evaluated using 4 armed foraging social mazes (FSM). The
experiment followed a RCBD with 6 replicate FSMs, each housed 5 birds. Presence of
birds on the respective substrate and the behaviour were recorded for 54 hrs. adopting
scan sampling method. Most preferred 4 litter materials were selected and each assigned
randomly into 6 replicate cages in experiment 2, to assess welfare indicators; foot pad
^ermatitis (FPD), breast blisters (BB) and hock burning damage (HBD). Preference for
different substrates was significantly (pco.os) affected by the type of litter material where
57.o±2.2 (%) of birds presence was observed in SD. DL (44±2.2%) was the least preferred
litter type. Litter type significantly altered certain behaviours such as eating, drinking,
walking, standing, preening, lying, litter eating, dozing, wing flapping, vocalization, wing/
leg stretching and dust bathing but not scratching floor, idling, bird interaction and other
behaviours. Leg strength as determined by latency-to-lie 9 (LTL) was highest (361.7 ±35.4
seconds) for the birds on SD while those on RT recorded the lowest (270.5 ±61.7). The
incidence of FPD and HBD were significantly low among the birds on SD litter, compared
to those kept on other litter materials. BB were also absent among the birds on SD litter.
Weight gain and mortality were not affected by the litter type. It is concluded that SD is the
most suitable litter material for broilers in terms of preference and welfare.
