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The effects of regular visual contact with human beings on fear, stress, antibody and growth responses in broiler chickens


Citation

Idrus, Zulkifli and Gilbert, Jeffrey J. and Liew, Pit Kang and Ginsos, J. (2002) The effects of regular visual contact with human beings on fear, stress, antibody and growth responses in broiler chickens. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 79 (2). pp. 103-112. ISSN 0168-1591; ESSN: 1872-9045

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of regular visual contact at various ages on tonic immobility (TI) and heterophil/lymphocyte ratio (HLR) reactions to handling and crating, antibody production, growth performance, and feed conversion ratios in commercial broiler chicks. Broiler chicks were exposed to (1) visual contact with an experimenter for 10 min twice daily from 0 to 3 weeks (V0–3), (2) visual contact with an experimenter for 10 min twice daily from 0 to 6 weeks (V0–6), (3) visual contact with an experimenter for 10 min twice daily from 3 to 6 weeks (V3–6) and (4) no visual contact (NV), as control. At 42 days of age, the birds were captured and crated for 10 min. Following, the 10 min crating, the V0–3 and V0–6 birds had shorter TI duration and lower HLR than those of NV. Although, the HLR response of V3–6 birds to crating were similar to their V0–3 and V0–6 counterparts, the latter two groups were less fearful, as measured by TI duration. Subjecting birds to V0–3 and V0–6 enhanced antibody response to Newcastle disease vaccine. Regular visual contact had negligible influence on body weight, feed conversion ratios and survivability of birds. Collectively, the results suggest that regular visual contact from 1 to 21 days of age is sufficient to reduce fear and stress reactions to handling and crating, and improve antibody response in broiler chickens.


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Additional Metadata

Item Type: Article
Divisions: Faculty of Agriculture
DOI Number: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0168-1591(02)00135-1
Publisher: Elsevier
Keywords: Broiler chickens; Visual contact; Fear; Stress; Performance; Immunity
Depositing User: Nabilah Mustapa
Date Deposited: 17 Sep 2015 23:59
Last Modified: 26 Jul 2024 09:29
Altmetrics: http://www.altmetric.com/details.php?domain=psasir.upm.edu.my&doi=10.1016/S0168-1591(02)00135-1
URI: http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/40382
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