The pecking, resting and feeding behaviour of four broiler strains in a humid tropical environment

Abstract

An experiment to determine the pecking, resting and feeding behaviour of four strains of broilers (Anak, Hubbard, Lohman, and Hybro) was conducted with 120 day old chicks. The birds were housed 15 per replicate pen and there were two replicates pens for each of the four strains. The birds were fed with commercial broiler starter from 0 - 6 weeks and finisher from 7 - 8 weeks. The criteria of measurements used were the number of birds pecking or resting, feed and water intakes and the weight gain of the birds from week one to 8 of age. Hubbard broilers pecked most following feed presentation at 8.00a.m. with mean values of 10.29 ± 0.14 birds followed by Anak with 7.14 ± 0.34, Hybro with 5.14 ± 0.14 and Lohman with 1.57 ± 0.53. Also the hubbard strains consumed the largest quantity of feed and water and therefore gained most weight at eight weeks. The resting pattern of the birds was such that after two hours of introduction of feeds Hubbard had the largest number of bird resting followed by Anak, hybro and Lohman in that order.

Keywords: Pecking, resting, feeding behaviour, broiler strains.