A chicken that is meant for meat production is called a broiler. The broilers that are used in the production of meat come from places called broiler breeders. This is when there are both broiler hens and roosters. Hens lay eggs if there is a rooster around or not, but the rooster must be around in order to fertilize the eggs. A common issue in these broiler breeders is feather loss or injury in the broiler hens. My project studied the possible cause of these injuries. Originally, I believed it was the roosters being too heavy for the hens. After my study, it was seen that the hens actually were less likely to have feather loss or injury if they were within their suggested weight category. Hens above or below that suggestion had more likelihood of having injuries or feather loss. This is important to know as it is a welfare concern, so ensuring producers are keeping their hens within the recommended weight limit is a very important management skill for producers to have.
Duration: 12/08/2019
Principal Investigator(s): Dr. Dawn Koltes