Welfare problems are commonly found in both conventional and organic production of broiler chickens. In order to reduce the extent of welfare problems, it has been suggested to provide stimulating, enriched environments. The aim of the present paper is to provide a review of the effect on behaviour and welfare […]
LETTER TO THE EDITOR:Draft national poultry welfare standards criticised
Dear sir, The claimed purpose of the new standards is to replace old standards that “have not kept pace with community and trading partner expectations”. However, despite undeniable community expectations, relevant standards like the length of time free range hens should spend outdoors, the required minimum eight hours for outdoor […]
Abstracts: Monitoring chicken flock behaviour provides early warning of infection by human pathogen Campylobacter
Campylobacter is the commonest bacterial cause of gastrointestinal infection in humans, and chicken meat is the major source of infection throughout the world. Strict and expensive on-farm biosecurity measures have been largely unsuccessful in controlling infection and are hampered by the time needed to analyse faecal samples, with the result […]
Campylobacter jejuni is not merely a commensal in commercial broiler chickens and affects bird welfare
Campylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of bacterial food-borne infection; chicken meat is its main source. C jejuni is considered commensal in chickens based on experimental models unrepresentative of commercial production. Here we show that the paradigm of Campylobacter commensalism in the chicken is flawed. Through experimental infection of four […]
Physiological and behavioural responses of poultry exposed to gas-filled high expansion foam
Disease control measures require poultry to be killed on farms to minimise the risk of disease being transmitted to other poultry and, in some cases, to protect public health. We assessed the welfare implications for poultry of the use of high-expansion gas-filled foam as a potentially humane, emergency killing method. […]