The effects of alternative feeding strategies for broiler breeders on behaviour, physiology, productivity and welfare

肉种鸡饲料管理是家禽业的一个重要福利和经济问题。为了限制肥胖、跛行和腹水等问题，并保持足够的繁殖能力，肉鸡育种者在整个生产过程中受到饲料限制，在饲养阶段最严重，并且经常表现出慢性饥饿的迹象。在加拿大，大多数生产商使用非每日喂养时间表来限制育种者，这种做法在一些国家被禁止，因为它据称是对福利的侮辱。然而，关于这种做法的福利影响的经验数据很少，在商业条件下的生产数据方面也没有。在这个项目中，我们建议研究在饲养过程中使用非日常喂养计划的女性肉鸡育种（谁构成高达90%的繁殖群），结合有前途的替代饮食，包括纤维填充剂和食欲抑制剂。将在实验和模拟商业条件下研究这些饲养策略对生长、行为、应激生理、产蛋和孵化率、胃肠道形态和沙门氏菌定植的影响，以向家禽业提出基于科学的建议。

Broiler breeder feed management is an important welfare and economic issue for the poultry industry. In order to limit problems such as obesity, lameness, and ascites, and maintain adequate reproductive capabilities, broiler breeders are feed restricted throughout their production, most severely during the rearing phase, and often exhibit signs of chronic hunger. In Canada, most producers restrict breeders with the use of a non-daily feeding schedule, a practice that is banned in some countries because of its purported insult to welfare. Yet, there has been little empirical data on the welfare implications of such practices, and none in terms of production data in commercial conditions. In this project, we propose to investigate the use of non-daily feeding schedules for female broiler breeders (who comprise up to 90% of the breeding flock) during rearing, in conjunction with promising alternative diets incorporating fibrous bulking agents and appetite suppressants. The effects of these feeding strategies on growth, behaviour, stress physiology, egg production and hatchability, gastrointestinal morphology, and Salmonella colonization will be studied in experimental and simulated commercial conditions to make science-based recommendations to the poultry industry.