ABSTRACT

Technology, like body-worn sensors, enables data collection from similar-looking individuals in large groups but may alter behavior. We aimed to evaluate the impact of body-worn sensors on broiler behavior. Broilers were housed in 8 pens (10 birds/m²). At 21 days-old, 10 birds/pen were fitted with a harness contained a sensor (HAR), while the remaining 10-birds were unharnessed (NON). Behaviors were recorded on days 22–26 using scan sampling (126 scans/day for 5 days). Percent of birds performing behaviors were calculated daily for each group (HAR-or-NON), and agonistic interactions were identified based on birds involved (two NON-birds (N-N), NON-aggressor to HAR-recipient (N-H), HAR-aggressor to NON-recipient (H-N), or two HAR-birds (H-H)). HAR-birds performed locomotory behavior and explored less often than NON-birds (p<0.05). Consummatory behavior was unaffected by treatment on any day (p>0.05). Agonistic interactions occurred more often between NON-aggressor and HAR-recipient birds than other categories on days 22 and 23 (p<0.05). HAR-broilers showed no behavioral differences when compared to NON-broilers after 2 days; thus, a similar acclimation period is required before using body-worn sensors to evaluate broiler welfare without altering behavior.

摘要

技术，如穿戴式传感器，可以从大群体中长相相似的个体收集数据，但可能会改变行为。我们旨在评估体戴式传感器对肉鸡行为的影响。肉鸡饲养在 8 个围栏中（10 只鸡/m ²). 在 21 日龄时，10 只鸡/围栏安装了包含传感器的挽具 (HAR)，而其余 10 只鸡没有挽具 (NON)。使用扫描采样（126 次扫描/天，持续 5 天）在第 22-26 天记录行为。每天计算每组（HAR-或-NON）执行行为的鸟类百分比，并根据所涉及的鸟类（两只非鸟类（NN）、非攻击者对 HAR-接受者（NH）、HAR-对非接受者 (HN) 或两只 HAR 鸟 (HH) 的攻击者）。HAR 鸟类执行运动行为和探索的频率低于非鸟类 (p < 0.05)。任何一天的治疗都不会影响完成行为 (p>0.05)。在第 22 天和第 23 天，与其他类别相比，非攻击者和 HAR 接受者之间的竞争性相互作用更频繁地发生 (p<0.05)。2 天后，与非肉鸡相比，HAR 肉鸡没有表现出行为差异；因此，在使用体戴式传感器评估肉鸡福利而不改变行为之前，需要类似的适应期。