The Effects of Dietary Omega 3 Fatty Acids on Commercial Broiler Behavior from Hatch to Market Weight

Abstract

<p>The objective of this experiment was to investigate how different dietary omega-3 sources affect commercial broiler behavior from hatch to market weight. One hundred and twenty male 308 Ross broiler chicks were enrolled into the study. Three dietary treatments were compared; Control, Flaxseed-and Fish-oil. Fifteen pens were randomly selected and onefocal-bird was watched continually for three periods of time. One behavior, two postures,and an unknown category were collected. Week by dietary treatment interaction was not significant for any broiler behaviors (P ≥ 0.49). There was no dietary treatment effect observed for any broiler behaviors (P≥ 0.32). There was no observed difference for percentage of time spent at the feeder between week 1 and 4 (P =0.14). However, there was a difference for percentage of time spent active (P < 0.0001), inactive (P = 0.0004) and unknown (P = 0.01) between week 1 and 4. Within the context of this work, the selected omega-3 dietary sources did not affect broiler behavior between weeks 1 and 4. Independent of dietary treatment, broilers increased the percentage of time spent inactive by week 4 of the study.</p>