The quality of litter on which broiler chickens stand and rest has major implications for their foot health, skin condition, and respiratory wellbeing in intensive housing systems.
Litter quality directly determines foot and leg health in broiler chickens. Wet, compacted litter causes contact dermatitis — painful lesions on the hocks, breast, and feet — in a high proportion of birds in poorly managed flocks. These lesions indicate both chronic pain and the environmental conditions that produced them. Ammonia generated from wet litter irritates eyes and airways, predisposing birds to respiratory infection. Achieving good litter quality requires integrated management: appropriate stocking density, well-maintained ventilation, drinker management to prevent spillage, and responsive litter replacement. Hock burn scoring is now used as a welfare outcome indicator in some assurance schemes to drive flock-level improvement.