Economic and welfare benefits of environmental enrichment for broiler breeders. Poult. Sci

ABSTRACT Designs to enrich the environment are cru-cial in the effort to fully address the biological needs of domestic animals. Although enrichment programs have been shown to improve health and welfare, little is known of their potential for application to commercial broiler breeder environments. We investigated the potential ben-efits of cover panels for broiler breeder reproductive per-formance in a commercial setting. This demonstration trial occurred on 5 commercial broiler breeder farms, each with a control and panel treatment room containing ap-proximately 7,000 females and 800 males. Reproductive performance was measured from 25 to 60 wk by the num-ber of eggs laid per female per week as well as weekly fertility and hatchability rates. The location of marked males was recorded weekly to quantify male movement. Access to cover panels improved egg production by 2.1