Footpad Dermatitis of Broiler Chickens in Japan

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The prevalence of footpad dermatitis (FPD) of broiler chickens in Japan was investigated. In first examination at slaughter houses, lesions of the footpads were commonly observed in a total of 8,985 broiler chickens from 45 flocks on 36 farms. In 3 flocks, all the birds examined had lesions. In the other 42 flocks, incidence of FPD ranged from 31.9% (81/254) to 99.5 % (1/222). The footpad lesions were classified into 4 categories according to the severity of dermatitis; score 0: 1,181 birds (13.1%), score 1: 2,992 birds (33.3%), score 2: 3,000 birds (33.4%), score 3: 1,812 birds (20.2%). The mean scores of flocks varied widely from 0.31 to 2.69. Males had higher mean scores than females. No significant differences were found between the mean scores of birds reared in windowless houses and those in open-sided houses. On 4 farms the investigation was carried out in different seasons, and 3 of them showed higher mean scores in winter than in summer. Next observation on 5 farms during a rearing 4 weeks in a total of 2,255 birds in 15 flocks revealed that FPD was already produced at 7 days of age and worsened with age.