Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T09:00:59.607Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Validation of broiler chicken gait scoring training in Thailand, Brazil and New Zealand

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

A Butterworth ,
TG Knowles ,
P Whittington ,
L Matthews ,
A Rogers  and
CS Bagshaw
A Butterworth*
Affiliation:
Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, N Somerset, BS40 5DU, UK
TG Knowles
Affiliation:
Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, N Somerset, BS40 5DU, UK
P Whittington
Affiliation:
Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, N Somerset, BS40 5DU, UK
L Matthews
Affiliation:
Animal Behaviour and Welfare Research Centre (ABWRC) Ruakura Research Centre East Street Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, New Zealand
A Rogers
Affiliation:
Animal Behaviour and Welfare Research Centre (ABWRC) Ruakura Research Centre East Street Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, New Zealand
CS Bagshaw
Affiliation:
Animal Behaviour and Welfare Research Centre (ABWRC) Ruakura Research Centre East Street Private Bag 3123, Hamilton, New Zealand
*
* Contact for correspondence and requests for reprints: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Broiler chickens are the most numerous terrestrial farmed animals on earth. These birds can suffer a range of pathologies which result in lameness, and one technique for assessing the impact of lameness on the individual bird, and on the flock has been gait scoring. This paper describes a study where the results of the same training programme for validated gait scoring are compared for groups of assessors in Thailand, Brazil and New Zealand. A uniform course of training carried out in the classroom, through video assessment and through on-farm training was carried out in the countries named; a total of 95 persons being trained overall. A measure of agreement with the reference scale for the assessors' numerical responses was carried out using a Cohen's Kappa test, and the results indicated significant differences in the ‘origin position’ ie the view taken by the assessors of the impact of lameness on the bird before training had taken place, but a high degree of consistency in the response to training. The study demonstrated that gait scoring can be learned by assessors from different geographical and social backgrounds, and that the ‘rate of learning’ – the improvement in performance in relation to a standard, was similar between the countries studied. The ‘origin’ and ‘final’ position of the assessors pre- and post-training, from the different countries in relation to the reference standard is discussed.

Keywords

animal welfarebroiler chickengait scoringinternationalvalidationwelfare assessment
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 16 , Issue 2: Special Issue: Proceedings of the 3rd International Workshop on the Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level , May 2007 , pp. 177 - 179
Copyright
© 2007 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Agresti, A 1990 Categorical data analysis. John Wiley & Sons: New York, USAGoogle Scholar
Butterworth, A 1999 Infectious components of broiler lameness; a review. World's Poultry Science Journal 55: 327–352CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butterworth, A, Weeks, CA, Crea, PR and Kestin, SC 2002 Dehydration and lameness in a broiler flock. Animal Welfare 11: 89–94CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cytel 2003 StatXact3 Manual Cytel Software Corps: Cambridge, MA, USAGoogle Scholar
Dawkins, MS, Donnelly, CA and Jones, TA 2004 Chicken welfare is influenced more by housing conditions than by stocking density. Nature 427: 342–344CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
FAWC (Farm Animal Welfare Council) 1992 Report on the welfare of broiler chickens. Defra Publications: Tolworth, Surrey, UKGoogle Scholar
Garner, JP, Falcone, C, Wakenell, P, Martin, M and Mench, JA 2002 Reliability and validity of a modified gait scoring system and its use in assessing tibial dyschondroplasia in broilers. British Poultry Science 43: 355–363CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kestin, SC, Knowles, TG, Tinch, AE and Gregory, NG 1992 Prevalence of leg weakness in broiler chickens and its relationship with genotype. Veterinary Record 131: 190–194CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kestin, SC, Su, G and Sorensen, P 1999 Different commercial broiler crosses have different susceptibilities to leg weakness. Poultry Science 78: 1085–1090CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landis, JR and Koch, GG 1977 The measurement of observer agreement for categorical data. Biometrics 33: 159–174CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pattison, M 1992 Impacts of bone problems on the poultry meat industry. In: Whitehead, CC (ed) Bone Biology and Skeletal Disorders in Poultry. Carfax Publishing Co: Abingdon, UKGoogle Scholar
Rauw, WM, Kanis, E, Noordhuizen, EN and Gromers, FJ 1998 Undesirable side effects of selection for high production efficiency of farm animals. Livestock Production Science 56: 15–33CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reiter, K and Kutritz, B 2001 Behaviour and leg weakness in different broiler breeds. Archiv für Geflügelkunde 65: 137–141Google Scholar
Sorensen, P 1992 The genetics of leg disorders. In Whitehead, CC (ed) Bone Biology and skeletal disorders in poultry. Carfax Publishing: Abingdon, UKGoogle Scholar
Sorensen, P and Kestin, SC 1999 The effect of photoperiod: scotoperiod on leg weakness in broiler chickens. Poultry Science 78: 336–342CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Su, G, Sorensen, P and Kestin, SC 1999 Meal feeding is more effective than early feed restriction at reducing the prevalence of leg weakness in broiler chickens. Poultry Scence 78: 949–955CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vestergaard, KS, Skadhauge, E and Lawson, LG 1997 The stress of not being able to perform dustbathing in laying hens. Physiology & Behavior 62: 413–419CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vestergaard, KS and Sanotra, GS 1999 Relationships between leg disorders and changes in the behaviour of broiler chickens. Veterinary Record 144: 205–209CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weeks, CA and Kestin, SC 1997 The effect of leg weakness on the behaviour of broilers. In: Koene, P & Blokhuis, HJ (eds) Fifth European Symposium on Poultry Welfare. Waginen Pers: Wageningen, The NetherlandsGoogle Scholar
Weeks, CA, Danbury, TD, Davies, HC, Hunt, P and Kestin, SC 2000 The behaviour of broiler chickens and its modification by lameness. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 67: 111–125CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed