This study was made to determine the effects of genotype and housing system on physical quality characteristics of breast and leg meat of broilers under experimental conditions. The 150 slow-growing and 150 fast-growing 1 d old chicks were divided into three sub-groups with indoor raised slatted plastic floor, indoor concrete floor with rice hull litter, and free-range housing systems (2 genotype groups × 3 housing systems). All birds were offered the same diet and were housed in similar conditions until they were 56 d old. At slaughter, 10 birds from each main group were selected randomly to determine the quality characteristics of the meat. In total, 60 breast meat pieces (pectoralis major muscle) and 60 legs of the chickens were used for meat quality analysis including pH, shear force, and colour characteristics such as lightness (L^∗), redness (a^∗), yellowness (b^∗), saturation (C^∗), and hue angle (h^∗). The pH of breast meat was significantly affected by genotype and housing system (P<0.001 and P<0.001). There were significant genotype × housing system interactions for pH (P<0.015 and P<0.001) and shear force values (P<0.007 and P<0.012) of leg and breast meat. There were no significant effects of genotype and housing system on leg and breast meat colour properties except for effects of genotype on redness (a^∗) of breast meat (p<0.005) and effects of housing on redness of leg meat colour (p<0.031). Slow-growing chickens and chickens housed in deep litter had a higher redness (darker) value of breast and leg meat colour compared to fast-growing birds and free range and slatted floor. In conclusion, it can be said that fast-growing broilers may be more appropriate for slatted plastic floor housing and slow-growing broilers may be more suitable for a free-range housing system, but further research on factors affecting meat quality would be very beneficial, especially in slow-growing broilers.

This study was made to investigate the long-term effects of different floor housing systems on the welfare of fast-growing broilers. The experiment was performed on 210-day-old fast-growing hybrid male chickens with identical conditions until 47 days of age. Animal-based welfare parameters were measured to investigate the welfare level in the group housed on deep litter, a litter and slat system, and a slatted floor, with five replicates for each group. Results showed that the main welfare indicators in live birds, such breast dirtiness, plumage score, footpad lesion, and hock burn lesion, were negatively affected in broilers kept on conventional deep-litter floor housing. But hemorrhage or lesion scores of the breast and shoulder of broilers in slat floor housing were found to be significantly greater than in conventional deep litter as a result of a heavy body weight at a greater slaughter age (p < 0.05). Pathologically, the prevalence of footpad and hock joint dermatitis was very high in the deep-litter housing system. Femoral head necrosis was not observed in any floor housing group. The results indicated that keeping broilers on a slat flooring system is preferable for younger slaughter ages and for a lighter slaughter weight. When considering the relationship between animal welfare and production economy, moving from one floor house system to another floor housing system should be carefully weighted in future decisions. Moreover, further investigations are needed in order to examine the incidence of joint and bone problems with muscle inflammation in heavier broilers in commercial conditions.

1. This study was to determine the effects of two lighting programmes (continuous—24L:0D or intermittent—12L:3(1L:3D)), two feeding programmes (continuous—ad libitum or meal feeding—3 h feed:3 h deprivation × 4 times per d) and two ascorbic acid (AA) supplementations (0 or 150 mg/l in water) on broiler performance and incidence of tibial dyschondroplasia (TD). 2. One-day-old male commercial (Ross PM₃) broiler chicks (1600) were used. The chicks were randomly divided into 8 treatment groups (2 × 2 × 2) and their replicates (4 replicates per treatment). 3. Intermittent lighting increased body weight and improved feed conversion. Body weight of broilers was decreased by meal feeding. AA supplementation had no significant effect on the body weight and feed conversion ratio. There was no lighting × feeding × supplemental AA interaction for body weight, feed conversion ratio, mortality rate and carcase weight. 4. Supplemental AA improved the cortical thickness of tibiotarsus and decreased the incidence of TD. 5. It was concluded that the application of intermittent lighting in combination with supplementation of 150 mg/l AA is a useful method to reduce TD in broilers without loss of performance.

International audienceA total of 1800 quail eggs were collected from two different flocks aged 20 and 37 wk. Prior to storage, half of the eggs were exposed to a prestorage incubation of 8 h (PRESI) and the other half were not (control). Eggs at 8 h PRESI were incubated at a standard dry-bulb temperature of 37.5 °C. After the PRESI treatment, all eggs were stored as the controls at 15 °C and 65% relative humidity for 5 or 15 d and were turned twice a day. All eggs were weighed prior to and after storage, then incubated in a commercial setter and hatcher for 17 d. After incubation, all unhatched eggs were opened to determine fertility, hatchability and stage of embryonic death. The PRESI treatment of 8 h significantly improved the hatchability of the total eggs (82.6%) compared to the control (79.7%). The hatchability of total eggs obtained from young breeders was significantly greater (84.7%) compared to that of old breeders (77.6%). No significant difference was observed for the hatchability due to the length of storage. Subsequent growth performance of progeny was not significantly influenced by the tested main effects, except for the storage treatment. The average body weight of 42 d-old quails hatched from eggs stored for 5 d was (191.3 g) higher than after 15 d of storage (174.4 g). PRESI (8 h) reduced mortality and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of quails issued from young breeders and not that of quails issued from old breeders. It also improved the FCR of 42 d-old quails to a larger extent when the eggs were stored for 15 d compared to 5 d (interaction, P < 0.03). It is concluded that 8 h PRESI does not have a detrimental effect on the hatchability of eggs and may even increase hatchability and subsequent performance of progeny issued from young breeders. Further research is needed to precisely determine the number of hours of PRESI required for maximum hatchability.Les effets d'une pré-incubation sur l'éclosabilité des œufs de cailles reproductrices et la croissance des cailleteaux. Un total de 1800 œufs de caille ont été obtenus à partir de deux troupeaux âgés de 20 et 37 semaines. Avant le stockage, la moitié des œufs a subi une pré-incubation à 37,5 °C (groupe PRESI) pendant 8 heures et l'autre moitié non (groupe témoin). Après la pré-incubation, les œufs du groupe PRESI comme ceux du groupe témoin ont été stockés à 15 °C et 65 % d'humidité relative pendant 5 ou 15 j et ont été tournés deux fois par jour. Tous les œufs ont été pesés avant et après stockage, puis incubés pendant 17 j dans un incubateur commercial. A la fin de cette période, tous les œufs non éclos ont été cassés afin de déterminer la fertilité, l'éclosabilité et le stade de mortalité embryonnaire éventuelle. Le traitement PRESI 8 h a significativement amélioré l'éclosabilité des œufs (82,6 %) par rapport au groupe témoin (79,7 %). Le taux d'éclosion des œufs obtenus avec les jeunes reproducteurs a été supérieur (84,7 %) à celui obtenu avec les reproducteurs plus âgés (77,6 %). Aucune différence significative liée à la durée du stockage n'a pu être détectée. La croissance des jeunes n'a été significativement modifiée que par la durée du stockage. Le poids corporel moyen à 42 j des cailleteaux issus des œufs stockés 5 j a été de 191,3 g alors qu'il était seulement de 174,5 g après 15 j de stockage. Le traitement PRESI a réduit la mortalité et l'indice de consommation (IC) des cailleteaux issus des jeunes reproducteurs, mais pas ceux des cailleteaux issus des reproducteurs plus âgés. Il a également amélioré l'IC des cailleteaux à 42 j, notamment celui des œufs stockés pendant 15 j comparativement à ceux stockés pendant 5 j (P < 0,03). La pré-incubation (PRESI) pendant 8 h n'a pas eu d'effet négatif sur l'éclosabilité, elle peut même améliorer l'éclosabilité des œufs et les performances des cailleteaux issus de jeunes reproducteurs. Des études complémentaires restent à mettre en oeuvre pour mieux déterminer la durée optimale de pré-incubation requise pour obtenir un taux d'éclosabilité maximal

This study investigated the welfare of a slow-growing broiler with a commercially available fast-growing breed housed in a free-range and conventional deep litter housing system. There were four main groups (2 genotypes x 2 housing systems), and each main group consisted of 5 replicates. Ante-mortem and postmortem health-based welfare indicators wıth fear reactıons and distribution of severity of them in 200 male chicks (100 slow growing, 100 fast growing) were investigated. All welfare parameters investigated were found to be significantly different between both broiler genotypes. No significant differences were detected for all broiler welfare parameters between the two housing systems. There were significant genotype x housing system interactions for breast dirtiness and feather cover of the birds (P < 0.001). In conclusion, it can be said that slow-growing broilers express more health-based indicators of positive welfare, and they might be more suitable for free-range broiler meat production. Planning further studies especially in commercial conditions that take into account economic efficiency as well as animal welfare and growth performance would be very beneficial.

1. A total of 1200 eggs were obtained from two pure line stocks of ‘wild’ and ‘recessive white’ quail of the Pharaoh strain (Coturnix coturnix Pharaoh), with two different breeder ages (17 or 34 weeks). The recessive white line was derived from mutant birds, which appeared spontaneously within the wild-type quail colony. 2. The analysis included plumage colour and breeder age as main effects together with their interaction. There were no significant effects for apparent fertility but hatchability of total and fertile eggs was affected by plumage colour variant and breeder age. 3. Body weight was affected by plumage colour throughout the growing period, whereas the differences attributable to breeder age were significant from 21 to 42 d only. 4. Main effects and their interaction were significant for feed conversion ratio until the end of the growing period, except at the age of 7 d for the effect of breeder age. 5. It was concluded that the hatchability and growth performance of the recessive white-type was not as good as the wild-type. The young breeders (17 weeks old) had the best hatchability and subsequent growth performance.