Effects of floor material, stocking density on growth performance and carcass quality of broilers

The orthogonal design with three factors and three levels L₉(3⁴)) was used in this experiment. The influence of floor material, stocking density on growth performance and carcass quality for 3～6 week-old AA broilers with different sex groups was evaluated. The results showed that the average body weight gain (BWG) of the broilers in the group with plastic netting floor, lower stocking density (11 broilers／m²) and single male management was 1.82kg, which was the highest among all the groups（P<0.05）. The results also indicated that BWG, feed conversion（FC）, carcass yield, abdominal fat yield, fibre diameter of breast muscle were not affected by the material of the cage floor, but the incidence of breast blister of broiler in the cage with wire netting floor was higher（P<0.05）. BWG and FC were both affected by the stocking density of broilers. Compared to the 6 week-old broilers in the groups with the stocking densities of 11 and 14 birds／m², BWG of broilers in the 17 birds／m² groups was significantly lower（ P <0.05）. FC of the 4 week-old broilers in the 11 birds／m² density groups was lower than that in the groups of 14 birds／m²（ P <0.05）, but it was significant higher in the groups with the densities of 11 and 14 birds／m² than that in the groups of 17 birds／m² at 6week-old. The carcass yield in the groups with 17 birds／m² was higher than that in the groups of 11 and 14 birds／m². The fibre diameter of breast muscle in the groups of 11 birds／m² was bigger than that in the groups of 14 and 17 birds／m² （P<0.05）.Theabdominal fat yield in female groups was higher than that in the male and mixed groups（P<0.05）.The results of this investigation suggeste that carcass quality of the broilers in the groups with plastic and bamboo slat floors and the productivity in the groups with the stocking densities ranged from 11 to 14 birds／m² are better.