Broiler chickens are prone to a range of complex health and welfare issues. To support informed selection of welfare traits whilst minimising impact on production efficiency and to address a major gap in understanding, we systematically explored associations between health and behavioural indicators of broiler welfare.
Abstracts: Slow-growing broilers are healthier and express more behavioural indicators of positive welfare
Broiler chicken welfare is under increasing scrutiny due to welfare concerns regarding growth rate and stocking density. This farm-based study explored broiler welfare in four conditions representing commercial systems varying in breed and planned maximum stocking density: (1) Breed A, 30 kg/m2; (2) Breed B, 30 kg/m2; (3) Breed B, […]
Vet Ethics: The thorny question of cattle dehorning
Israeli TV has shown video of West Australian cattle in pain and distress from having their horns removed. The footage, which was taken by an Israeli animal rights group called Sentient, also showed workers kicking and abusing the cattle. One of the workers is heard in the footage to remark […]
Abstracts: Review of environmental enrichment for broiler chickens
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 […]