Effect of Environmental and Farm-Associated Factors on Live Performance Parameters of Broilers Raised under Commercial Tropical Conditions

SIMPLE SUMMARY: In commercial poultry operations, chickens are subjected to different housing, environmental, and management conditions, which can drive the performance results at slaughter age. Although modern poultry housing might incorporate environmental electronic sensors, the data collected are not often analyzed to determine the impact of the environment on broiler live performance results. On the other hand, the variability observed in performance can depend on complex interactions between housing characteristics and management that are difficult to elucidate to understand the potential effects on chicken growth. Gathering and analyzing commercial records could be challenging since the datasets produced are large, without structure, and variable. Consequently, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of environmental, management, and housing factors on broiler live performance using statistical and machine learning techniques. Several datasets of different sizes were evaluated. Results indicated the vital importance of temperature control during the first three weeks of live performance and livability. Additionally, the results of random forest and artificial neural network analyses indicated the greater relevance of sex, transportation distance of day-old chicks from the hatchery to the farm, and the farm altitude on the BW and feed conversion ratio of broiler flock live performance parameters. ABSTRACT: Although temperature, relative humidity, and farm-associated factors are known to affect broiler live performance, data about the impact of these variables under commercial operations are still scarce. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of temperature, relative humidity, a thermal humidity index, management, and farm-associated factors on BW, BW gain, feed conversion ratio (FCR), and mortality of broilers raised to 35 d under commercial tropical conditions. The data analyzed included performance records of Ross 308 AP broiler flocks placed between 2018 and 2020. Environmental monitoring information was obtained from electronic sensors that captured data hourly from 80 flocks in 29 farms. Farm-associated factors were gathered using a survey of 86 farms. Three data analyses were conducted in parallel. Correlation analyses, one-way ANOVA, and machine learning techniques were employed. Results indicated that BW and BW gain were reduced, and FCR worsened (p < 0.001) up to 21 d when chickens were mainly exposed to temperatures 2.5 °C lower than the recommended optimums for each age period. At the same time, mortality at 28 and 35 d increased. In conclusion, all farm-associated factors affected chicken live performance. Variable importance analysis indicated that performance results at 14 and 21 d were significant to predict BW at 35. At the same time, sex, distance between the hatchery and farm, and farm altitude accounted for the most significant contributions from the farm-associated factors.