Broiler Chicken Health Metrics Under Varying Housing Densities

Three commercial poultry farms tested housing densities of 14.33, 15.00, and 15.66 birds per square meter. Adrieli Braga de Cristo authored this study, which measured footpad lesion scores, bone flexural deformation rates, and cortical bone thickness and area in broilers at 21 and 42 days of age. The data, analyzed with SAS software, shows increased density leads to more severe footpad lesions and weaker bone characteristics.

Use Cases

• Modeling the relationship between housing density and footpad dermatitis incidence based on lesion scores.
• Predicting bone strength characteristics based on cross-sectional area and cortical thickness measurements.
• Analyzing the temporal progression of bone and footpad health from 21 to 42 days of age.

Strengths

• Data originates from a controlled experiment across three commercial farms.
• Includes specific, quantified housing densities (14.33, 15.00, 15.66 birds/m²).
• Measures multiple health indicators: macroscopic lesion scores, bone breaking strength, and cortical bone metrics.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

Adrieli Braga de Cristo

Collection Method

Experimental study where chicks were housed at three densities, with weekly culling for sample collection and analysis.

Time Range

The study period covered rearing up to 42 days of age.