Effect of different LED light colors on welfare, performance, some behavioral patterns, and blood parameters of Muscovy ducks.

BACKGROUND: The current study was conducted to assess the impact of different LED light colors on welfare indicators in Muscovy ducks. These welfare parameters encompassed growth performance, specific behaviors, tonic immobility (TI), feather score, haematological, and serum biochemical parameters. Eighty-four healthy unsexed Muscovy ducklings aged two weeks were randomly assigned to four groups (3replicates/group; each replicate contains 7 birds) based on different LED light colors. The first group was raised under white light, the second under red light, the third under blue light, and the fourth under yellow light. To assess the impact of various LED light colors on welfare, growth performance indicators (body weight, body weight gain, feed intake, and feed conversion ratio) were measured. Behavioral patterns including feeding, drinking, standing, walking, sitting, feather pecking, and other activities were recorded. Tonic immobility test (TI) and feather condition scoring were conducted at 3, 6, and 10 weeks of age. At the end of the study blood samples were collected for hematological and serum biochemical analyses. RESULTS: The results revealed that using blue, yellow, and red colors had no adverse effect on the final body weight of the ducks (P > 0.05). Unlike to red light, blue light significantly reduced feather pecking, TI time and cortisol concentrations and improved the feather condition score (P ≤ 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The current findings suggest that the application of blue light effectively improves welfare indices and has no detrimental impact on the growth performance of Muscovy ducks thereby positively contributing to their welfare.

Slatted floor reduces the welfare and increases the foot pad dermatitis and growth performance of Turkeys under Egyptian conditions.

Background: When Turkeys' legscome in contact with their dropping during the growing stage results in footpad dermatitis condition which affects the poult's welfare and productivity. Aim: Our experiment aimed to detect the impact of various bedding substrates on the wellbeing, and performance of growing Turkey under Egyptian conditions. Methods: 180-day-old Turkey poults were allocated into three treatments. In treatment I, the poults [60 each with three replicates (n = 20 birds)] were kept on wood shavings (WS); in the second treatment, the poults were housed on chopped wheat straw (CWS). However, in the third treatment, they kept on a plastic slatted floor (PSF). Results: The greater feed intake and body weight were recorded in poults reared in PSF compared with those kept in other treatments (WS and CWS). Feed conversion ratio did not show any significant difference. The mortality percentage was higher in the PSF group than in the WS one. The frequency of feeding and drinking behavior was higher in poults reared on WS treatment compared with other treatments CWS and PSF. On the other hand, resting behavior showed the highest frequency in poults kept in PSF. Contrary, the lowest frequency of walking behavior was recorded in poults reared in PSF treatment. In addition, the poults kept in WS had a longer tonic immobility reaction period followed by those kept in PSF and CWS. Concerning foot-pad dermatitis, the highest score of 0 was observed in the CWS group, while the highest score of 1 was recorded among poults kept in the WS group. On the other side, the highest score 2, 3, and 4 was observed in the poults reared in the PSF group. Heterophil/Lymphocyte ratio of Turkey poults was higher in PSF. While T3 and T4 concentrations in blood were not affected by using different bedding materials. Conclusion: It is concluded that the slatted floor was good for Turkey producers from the point of performance but, it is the worst from the point of welfare.