Lesions created by footpad dermatitis are significantly reduced when broilers are raised in poultry houses with circulation fans, scientists have discovered.

Researchers at the University of Maryland found birds raised in houses with fans suffered from less severe cases of footpad dermatitis, which adversely affects bird welfare and the market for broiler paws.

“Footpad dermatitis causes painful ulcers and lesions on the ventral footpads of broilers,” graduate research assistant Zoie McMillian told Poultry Health Today. “This is a threat to poultry welfare as well as a threat to the meat industry. When footpads have lesions on them, the paws are not saleable, and there’s a big foreign market to purchase broiler paws.”

Read the full article on Poultry Health Today.