Effect of sand and wood-shavings bedding on the behavior of broiler chickens

• Published in: Poultry science Vol. 84; no. 12; pp. 1816 - 1824
• Main Authors: Shields, S.J, Garner, J.P, Mench, J.A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 01.12.2005
• Subjects: Aging; animal age; animal behavior; animal preferences; Animals; Behavior, Animal; broiler chickens; Chickens; dust bathing; Floors and Floorcoverings; Housing, Animal; litter (bedding); Male; Silicon Dioxide; Time Factors; Wood
• ISSN: 0032-5791; 1525-3171
• DOI: 10.1093/ps/84.12.1816

The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of 2 different bedding types, sand and wood shavings, on the behavior of broiler chickens. In experiment 1, 6 pens were divided down the center and bedded half with sand and half with wood shavings. Male broilers (10/pen) were observed by scan sampling at 5- or 12-min intervals throughout the 6-wk growth period during the morning (between 0800 to 0900 h), afternoon (1200 to 1500 h), and night (2300 to 0600 h). There was a significant behavior x substrate x week interaction during the day (P < 0.0001) and at night (P < 0.0002). Drinking, dustbathing, preening, and sitting increased in frequency on the sand side but decreased on the wood shavings side during the day, as did resting at night. In general, broilers performed a greater proportion of their total behavioral time budget on the sand (P < 0.0001) as they aged. Broilers used the divider between the 2 bedding types to perch; perching behavior peaked during wk 4. In experiment 2, male broilers were housed in 8 pens (50 birds/pen) bedded only in sand or wood shavings. Bedding type had no effect on behavioral time budgets (P = 0.8946), although there were age-related changes in behavior on both bedding types. These results indicate that when given a choice, broilers increasingly performed many of their behaviors on sand, but if only one bedding type was provided they performed those behaviors with similar frequency on sand or wood shavings.