Production Performance of Different Broiler Breeds Under Different Housing Systems

US - In today's broiler industry, different housing systems are used in broiler production. However, the most common one is raising broilers on the floor.
calendar icon 3 July 2012
clock icon 3 minute read

Raising broilers in the cages is another type of broiler housing system, but yet it is not commonly used. Raising broilers in cage system has many advantages when compared to raising broilers on the floor.

The first obvious advantage is the better utilization of space available and that is important especially when the lands are expensive. In addition, using cage to raise broilers provide better hygienic condition that could lead to improving the health and quality of broilers.

However, it is not known whether or not different broiler breeds will behave similarly when are raised in cage versus floor. Therefore, the current study was conducted to compare the production performance as well as per cent carcass of broilers raised in the cage system with broilers raised on the floor.

In addition the per cent fat and per cent protein of meat from broilers raised under the two housing systems were measured. Three broiler breeds were used in three separate experiments. These breeds were Indian River, Cobb500 and Ross.

Data on body weight, feed consumption were measured at 1, 3 and 5 weeks of age. Feed efficiency, per cent mortality, per cent carcass were calculated. In addition the per cent protein and per cent fat of breasts and legs of different breeds under the two housing systems were measured.

The results of the research team, Mariam E. Al-Bahouh, Afaf Y. Al-Nasser, Faten K. Abdullah, Gehan Ragheb and Magdy M. Mashaly published in the International Journal of Poultry Science indicate that raising broilers in cages could provide better production efficiency than raising broilers on the floor.

Furthermore, results show that per cent protein is higher in the breast than in leg meat, however, per cent fat was higher in the leg than in the breast meat. In conclusion, the experiments emphasis the importance and significancy of utilizing cages to raise broiler chicks.

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