Individual Monitoring of Activity and Lameness in Conventional and Slower-Growing Breeds of Broiler Chickens Using Accelerometers

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Broiler chickens are specifically bred for meat, and conventional breeds have been genetically selected for faster growth rates. Rapid growth is associated with a greater risk of lameness in broiler chickens, which is a major welfare concern associated with an economic loss for producers. Although defined as an individual’s physical and mental state, welfare is often monitored at the group level and is at risk of overlooking individual issues. Body-mounted accelerometers measure movement and could potentially monitor individual welfare, including lameness. However, body-mounted sensors may alter behavior and/or impact welfare. We investigated relationships between accelerometer-recorded activity (all movement), weight, and lameness in broiler breeds with different growth rates. Wearing the device did not negatively impact lameness, and, except for preening more, birds behaved similarly to those not wearing accelerometers after 24 h. We found that faster-growing, heavier birds were less active compared to slower-growing, lighter birds, demonstrating that accelerometers could detect known influences on activity useful for general monitoring, but that accelerometer-detected activity was not linearly associated with lameness. Further research on accelerometer detection of more specific behavioral changes likely to be associated with lameness, such as non-linear acceleration with gait score, offers the possibility of better continuous monitoring of individuals to assess lameness objectively. ABSTRACT: Accelerometers are increasingly being investigated to detect animal behavior as a method for monitoring individual welfare that overcomes manual challenges associated with time, resource, and discrete sampling. We investigated the effects of broiler chicken hybrid (hereafter breed) and weight on accelerometer activity (activityA; calculated as percentage of time spent active (%)) and its association with lameness as a major broiler welfare concern. Accelerometers were attached to birds of different breeds on between 2 and 4 occasions from 26 to 30 days old (conventional breed CNV) and 26 to 49 days old (two slower-growing breeds SGH; SGN). At 2.2 kg, lameness was scored using a 6-point gait scoring system (0: unaffected to 5: severely lame). Linear mixed effects models and breed-stratified generalized linear models together with a random-effect meta-analysis were used for data analyses. ActivityA was lower in faster-growing, heavier birds compared to slower-growing, lighter birds, showing overall consistency with previous behavioral research, but did not vary linearly with gait score. Accelerometers offer the potential for simple broad-scale continuous monitoring of broiler chicken activity behavior that requires limited data processing. Exploration of the ability of accelerometers to capture more subtle and specific changes in behavioral patterning, such as non-linear acceleration with gait score that could indicate early development of lameness, warrants further investigation.