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. 2020 Mar 26;99(5):2633–2644. doi: 10.1016/j.psj.2020.01.015

Table 8.

Effects of fiber level and vitamin C inclusion on the percentage of birds performing grasping feather pecking (GFP) and non–food object pecking (NFOP) at 6, 15, and 22 wk and on tail- and wing-feather score at 22 wk of age.

Effects GFP1
 NFOP1
 Tail-feather score2
 Wing-feather score2
6 wk 15 wk 22 wk 6 wk 15 wk 22 wk 22 wk 22 wk
Fiber level
 CTR 0 7.74 5.17 12.4 24.0 35.1 0.73 1.12
 FBR 0 0.29 0.05 12.9 14.1 18.5 0.20 0.70
Vitamin C inclusion
 C− 0 5.83 3.73 13.4 18.4 28.2 0.66 1.01
 C+ 0 2.20 1.49 11.9 19.7 25.4 0.25 0.80
Fiber level/vitamin C
 CTR/C− 0 11.53a 7.47a 14.6 22.4a,b 35.2a 1.15a 1.26a
 CTR/C+ 0 3.96b 2.88a 10.2 25.7a 35.1a 0.30b 0.98b
 FBR/C− 0 0.14b 0b 12.2 14.4a,b 21.2b 0.19b 0.76c
 FBR/C+ 0 0.45b 0.10b 13.6 13.7b 15.8b 0.21b 0.63c
P-values
 Fiber level 0 0.016 0.008 0.773 0.005 <0.001 <0.001 <0.001
 Vitamin C inclusion 0 0.104 0.828 0.707 0.778 0.537 <0.001 0.029
 Fiber level/vitamin C 0 0.009 0.029 0.924 0.043 0.003 <0.001 <0.001

a-cMeans within a column and within a source with no common superscript differ significantly.

Abbreviations: CTR, control diet; C−, not vitamin C–supplemented diet; C+, vitamin C–supplemented diet; FBR, fibrous diet.

Treatments: CTR/C−: control diet not vitamin C supplemented, CTR/C+: control diet vitamin C supplemented, FBR/C−: fibrous diet not vitamin C supplemented, and FBR/C+: fibrous diet vitamin C supplemented.

Tail- and wing-feather scores: (0) fully feathered, (1) rough, (2) some broken feathers and small bald areas, (3) heavily broken feathers and some bald areas, (4) almost bald/large bald areas, and (5) bald (no feather cover).

1

n = 32 for fiber level and vitamin C effects and n = 16 for the combinations fiber level/vitamin C.

2

n = 192 for fiber level and vitamin C effects and n = 96 for the combinations fiber level/vitamin C.