Table 1.
Environmental provisions to each flock.
Table 2.
Ethogram of broiler welfare problems recorded during transect sampling, and subsequently pooled categories.
Table 3.
Prevalence of welfare problems detected by transect sampling during on-farm welfare assessment, and production outcomes.
Table 4.
Regression coefficient estimates for associations of environmental complexity and space allowance with welfare problems detected by transect sampling, and production outcomes.
Fig 1.
Associations of environmental complexity with (A) skin wounds (r2 = 0.183), (B) welfare problems index (r2 = 0.164), and (C) mortality (r2 = 0.074).
Environmental complexity is based on the number of environmental enrichment types (boxes, peat, wood shavings bales) provided (from 0–3). Data points are back-transformed estimates. (A, B) Birds detected with skin wounds, and sum of birds detected with welfare problems (walking difficulties, illness, skin wounds, small size), as a % of the estimated number of birds in 4 assessed transects. (C) Number found dead and culled on the farm up to the day of slaughter as a % of number of chicks started.
Fig 2.
Associations of environmental complexity with rejections due to (A) wounds (r2 = 0.206), and (B) underweight birds (r2 = 0.053), and (C) total rejections (r2 = 0.076).
Environmental complexity is based on the number of environmental enrichment types (boxes, peat, wood shavings bales) provided (from 0–3). Data points are back-transformed estimates. (A, B, C) Carcasses rejected as a % of total number of slaughtered birds.
Fig 3.
Associations of space allowance (m2/bird) with (A) walking difficulties (r2 = 0.480) and (B) welfare problems index (r2 = 0.233).
Data points are back-transformed estimates from analysis of residuals of space allowance regressed on environmental complexity. (A) Birds detected with walking difficulties as a % of estimated number of birds in 4 assessed transects. (B) Sum of birds detected with welfare problems (walking difficulties, illness, skin wounds, small size), as a % of the estimated number of birds in 4 assessed transects.
Fig 4.
Associations of space allowance (m2/bird) with (A) rejections due to wounds (r2 = 0.151), (B) growth rate (r2 = 0.007), and (C) production index (r2 = 0.048).
Data points are back-transformed estimates from analysis of residuals of space allowance regressed on environmental complexity. (A) Carcasses rejected due to wounds as a % of total slaughtered birds. (B) [Mean g eviscerated carcass weight/days of age at slaughter]. (C) [Mean g eviscerated carcass weight * (number slaughtered − number rejected)/(days of age at slaughter * number of chicks started)].
Table 5.
Back-transformed least squares means for associations of underfloor heating and photoperiod regimen with welfare problems detected by transect sampling and production outcomes.
Fig 5.
Associations of underfloor heating with (A) rejection due to perosis, and of photoperiod regimen on on-farm (B) illness, (C) skin wounds, and (D) mortality.
Underfloor heating (UFH, without vs with). Photoperiod regimen (18 h continuous vs 16 h intermittent). Bars show back-transformed least squares means ± SE (differences, P < 0.05). (A) Carcasses rejected due to perosis (leg deformity) as a % of total number of slaughtered birds. (B, C) Birds detected with signs of illness, and skin wounds, as a % of the estimated number of birds in 4 assessed transects. (D) Number found dead and culled on the farm up to the day of slaughter as a % of number of chicks started.
Table 6.
Regression coefficient estimates for relationships between welfare problems detected by transect sampling, and production outcomes.
Table 7.
Mean differences in prevalence of welfare problems (%) between transects according to observer identity and transect location (left minus right; wall minus central), with Wilcoxon signed-ranks test (S) results.