The effects of environmental enrichment on broiler chicken behaviour

Abstract

The provision of enrichment items is intended to increase the welfare of animals in captivity, and is often mandatory for welfare assurance schemes. However the effect of such items is poorly understood and evidence of successful, practical enrichment items is often lacking. We investigated the effects of enrichment, either physical items or increased human contact, on the behaviour of broiler chickens. Day-old mixed-sex ROSS 308 broilers (n=108) were allocated to a control (C), physical environmental enrichment (P) or human contact (H) group.