Behavior and Egg Production of Female Broiler Breeder as Function of the Thermal Environment

摘要

Because of the importance that broiler production represents to Brazilian economy this research aimed to understand and identify indicators of welfare related to female broiler breeders. For that egg production was studied as well as their distinct behavior reaction, under controlled environmental chamber. The experiment was set as a Latin Square 3×3×3, where the variables dry bulb air temperature, feed ration, and age were controlled. Birds with distinct ages were lodged in separate boxes. Behavior observation was made in two distinct schedules for 15 min, in the morning and in the afternoon using remote video images from the birds. It was found in the results the influence of temperature as the major factor affecting the number of laid eggs. Controlled data such as temperature, age, and feed ration influenced also behavioral reaction. It can be concluded that the act of feeding results in higher aggressive reaction among the birds.