Non-infectious skeletal disorders in broilers

Abstract

SUMMARYThe incidence of non-infectious skeletal disorders has been reported to increase over the past decade. Both genetic selection and rearing conditions cause skeletal disorders in the broilers. The rapid increase in broiler body weight, along with weakened, immature tissues, causes deformations by putting extra load on the skeletal system. Non-infectious skeletal disorders found in commercial broilers include articular gout, degenerative joint disease, dyschondroplasia, rickets, rotational-angular deformities, spondylopathies and ruptured gastrocnemius tendon. In broilers, bilateral abnormalities affect around 17% of the population, but the most common disorders are unilateral abnormalities in terms of leg disorders. Articular gout occurs, causing up to 40% mortality, and femoral degeneration incidence ranged between 81.67 and 85.00% in commercial broilers. The heritabilities were found for tibial dyschondroplasia ranged from 0.13 to 0.18 in different broiler breeds. Non-infectious skeletal disorders have led to significant welfare problems, including pain and high mortality rate in broilers and losses to the producer, influencing the production and quality. The most crucial point here is to optimise the welfare conditions of the poultry administration.