Table 3.
Least Square Means of the effects of system, density and week of age on behaviour of commercial-line broilers 1.
| Item | Feeding | Drinking | Locomotion * | Lying | Standing | Preening | Dustbathing * | Foraging |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| System | ||||||||
| Outdoor access | 15.5 ± 3.26 | 6.24 ± 2.55 | 1.18 ± 0.78 a | 64.5 ± 4.12 | 3.48 ± 1.86 | 5.42 ± 1.90 | 0.85 ± 1.04 | 2.05 ± 0.68 a |
| Indoors | 15.4 ± 5.42 | 5.84 ± 1.50 | 0.79 ± 0.85 b | 66.4 ± 6.30 | 2.75 ± 1.10 | 5.80 ± 2.66 | 0.97 ± 0.77 | 1.50 ± 0.92 b |
| Density | ||||||||
| Low | 17.2 ± 4.84 a | 6.29 ± 1.81 | 1.29 ± 0.91 a | 62.8 ± 4.41 b | 2.62 ± 1.03 | 6.27 ± 2.25 a | 1.03 ± 0.86 | 1.63 ± 0.83 |
| High | 13.7 ± 3.20 b | 5.79 ± 2.34 | 0.68 ± 0.62 b | 68.1 ± 4.92 a | 3.61 ± 1.82 | 4.94 ± 2.19 b | 0.80 ± 0.96 | 1.92 ± 0.86 |
| Week of age | ||||||||
| 3 | 13.2 ± 3.09 b | 6.01 ± 1.68 a,b | 1.31 ± 0.78 a | 65.7 ± 4.81 | 2.95 ± 1.53 | 6.55 ± 1.92 a | 1.40 ± 1.12 | 1.81 ± 0.56 |
| 4 | 17.4 ± 5.47 a | 4.91 ± 2.07 b | 0.48 ± 0.74 b | 65.8 ± 5.65 | 2.83 ± 1.26 | 5.60 ± 2.26 a,b | 0.60 ± 0.66 | 1.79 ± 1.01 |
| 5 | 15.7 ± 3.56 a,b | 7.20 ± 1.92 a | 1.17 ± 0.76 a | 64.7 ± 5.81 | 3.57 ± 1.80 | 4.67 ± 2.43 b | 0.75 ± 0.71 | 1.72 ± 0.96 |
| Main effect, p-value | ||||||||
| System | 0.90 | 0.43 | 0.03 | 0.11 | 0.08 | 0.54 | 0.37 | 0.01 |
| Density | 0.004 | 0.33 | 0.01 | <0.001 | 0.06 | 0.03 | 0.25 | 0.16 |
| Week of age | 0.02 | 0.003 | <0.001 | 0.67 | 0.30 | 0.05 | 0.06 | 0.93 |
| Interaction, p-value | ||||||||
| Sys × Den | 0.06 | 0.39 | 0.01 | <0.001 | 0.01 | 0.04 | 0.72 | 0.02 |
| Sys × Week | 0.70 | 0.12 | 0.60 | 0.15 | 0.93 | 0.12 | 0.57 | 0.008 |
| Den × Week | 0.40 | 0.31 | 0.60 | 0.01 | 0.50 | 0.79 | 0.55 | 0.006 |
| Sys × Den × Week | 0.65 | 0.04 | 0.88 | 0.44 | 0.89 | 0.69 | 0.95 | 0.21 |
1 Percentage of time performing each behaviour, based on a total of 210 min of observation. Sys = System; Den = Density; Week = Week of age. * Square root transformed for ANOVA. LS Means provided were calculated from original data, and those in the same column with different superscript letters indicate statistically significant differences (Tukey’s HSD test; p ≤ 0.05).