Effect of Differently Coloured Clothes on Fear and Stress Responses, Some Meat Quality Traits and Performance in Broilers

摘要

This study was conducted to investigate the effects of regular visual contact by the stockperson wearing clothes of different colour on fear and stress reactions, some meat quality traits and performance parameters in broiler chickens. A total of 192 one day-old male broiler chicks (Ross 3.8) were randomly assigned to four different colour clothing groups (red, blue, green and gray), and two visual human contact groups (60 and 300 s durations) were designed. From day 15, the chickens were exposed to regular visual contacts with the stockperson, who wore different colour clothings every day. Tonic immobility (TI) test revealed that visual contact duration increase (300 s) has a positive effect on fear in broilers. The heterophil lymphocyte (H/L) ratio was the highest (0089) in the green clothing group, but the lowest (0045) in red clothing group (P<0.0001). From meat quality traits in breast muscle (P<00.1) it was determined that clothing colour has statistically significant effects on lightness value. Final body weights were higher in blue coloured clothing group (2593.82 g) than the green one (2348.42). The results demonstrate that regular visual human contact has no effect on parameters such as H/L ratio, some blood parameters, meat quality, TI duration and perfomance traits, while colour of clothes has a significant effect on HA ratio, lightness colour value, and body weight in broiler chickens.