Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica ›› 2021, Vol. 52 ›› Issue (10): 2832-2841.doi: 10.11843/j.issn.0366-6964.2021.010.014

• ANIMAL NUTRITION AND FEEDS • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Effects of Cage Density on Production Performance and Cecal Microorganism of Xueshan Chicken

KONG Linglin1, WANG Laidi1, BAI Hao2, JIANG Yong1, WANG Zhixiu1, WANG Wei3, CHEN Guohong1, DAI Wangcheng4, CHANG Guobin1*   

  1. 1. College of Animal Science and Technology, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou 225009, China;
    2. Joint International Research Laboratory of Agriculture & Agri-Product Safety of Ministry of Education, Yangzhou 225009, China;
    3. Suyu Branch, Suqian Ecolovo Breeding and Poultry Co., Ltd., Suqian 223800, China;
    4. Tiancheng Livestock and Poultry Ecological Farm, Zhenjiang 212000, China
  • Received:2020-11-19 Online:2021-10-23 Published:2021-10-27

Abstract: This experiment was conducted to study the effect of cage density on the production performance, meat quality, welfare index and cecal microorganisms of Xueshan chickens. Totally, 180 6-week-old Xueshan female chickens with similar body weight were randomly selected into high-density, middle-density and low-density rearing system equally with 20 replicates, and 4, 3 or 2 birds in each cage as a replicate. And the production performance, slaughter performance, meat quality, feathers and gait score, and the cecal microflora composition were detected at the market age of 15-week-old. The results showed that:1) The body weight of chickens in the low- and middle-density group were significantly higher than those in the high-density group from the age of 11-to 15-week-old(P<0.05). The abdominal fat weight and abdominal fat percentage of 15-week-old chickens in the low-density group were significantly higher than those in the mid-dle-density group (P<0.05), and the abdominal fat indexes in middle-density were significantly higher than those in high-density group (P<0.05). No significant difference were found in the other slaughter indexes (P>0.05). 2) The feather quality of chickens in the middle- and low-density groups were significantly better than that in the high-density group (P<0.05). There was no significant difference in gait score among three groups (P>0.05). 3) Bacteroidetes, Firmicutes, and Proteobacteria were 3 dominant flora in cecum. And there was no significant diffe-rence in intestinal flora among 3 groups (P>0.05). However, chickens in the middle-density group exhibited less unique OTUs in cecum. Compared with the high density cecal microflora, the middle- and low-density cecal microflora were more similar. The proportion of Firmicutes and Bacterioidetes might be related to body weight. In general, these findings may provide a reliable information for considering the selection of middle-density for female Xueshan broilers can get better production performance.

Key words: Xueshan chicken, feeding density, production performance, meat quality, feather, gait, cecal microorganisms

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