Abstract

Totally, 315 42-day-old male Xueshan chickens were allocated into 3 caging densities, 14, 21 and 28 birds/m². Each treatment was represented by 5 replicates. The body weight (BW), slaughter performance, meat quality, behavioral assessment, and the cecal microorganisms were detected at the market age. The results showed that the BW of broilers in the low- and medium-density groups was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that of the high-density group from the age of 10 weeks. Only the feather quality of the broilers in the low-density group improved significantly (p < 0.05) compared with those of the other two groups. And, the abdominal fat percentage and the fat content of thigh muscle of broilers in the low- and medium-density groups were higher (p < 0.05) than those in the high-density group. No significant difference (p > 0.05) was noted in the other traits. The abundance of some microbial like Akkermansiaceae, Lactobacillaceae and Faecalibacterium may be correlated with the BW and fat content of broilers. The findings of this study suggest that increasing the stocking density decreased the final BW, fat content and the feather quality, whereas no evidence was found that stocking density caused changes in other parameters.

摘要

将315只42日龄雄性雪山鸡分为14、21和28只/m ² 3个笼养密度。每个处理由 5 个重复代表。在上市日龄检测体重（BW）、屠宰性能、肉质、行为评估和盲肠微生物。结果表明， 从 10 周龄开始，低密度和中密度组的肉鸡 BW 显着高于高密度组 ( p < 0.05)。仅低密度组肉鸡羽毛质量 较其他两组有显着改善（ p < 0.05）。且低密度和中密度组肉鸡腹脂率和大腿肌肉脂肪含量较高（p  < 0.05) 高于高密度组。其他性状无显着差异 ( p  > 0.05)。一些微生物如阿克曼菌科、乳杆菌科和粪杆菌的丰度可能与肉鸡的体重和脂肪含量相关。这项研究的结果表明，增加饲养密度会降低最终体重、脂肪含量和羽毛质量，而没有证据表明饲养密度会引起其他参数的变化。