Article published the July 13, 2021
1. Introduction
Contact dermatitis is an inflammation and irritation of the skin due to contact with an irritant or allergen. A common type of contact dermatitis in broiler chickens is footpad dermatitis (FPD), with necrotic lesions on the plantar surface of the central footpad [1]. When these lesions are left untreated, and environmental conditions remain the same or deteriorate, lesions will wo ...
Article published the June 25, 2021
On-Farm Welfare Assessment: Laying Hens
In this newsletter we will provide an overview of animal-based indicators that can be used to assess laying hen welfare on the farm, using measures from the Welfare Quality® Assessment protocol (2009).
The laying hen husbandry landscape in the United States is rapidly evolving in response to consumer demands. Ethical concerns over egg-laying hens hou ...
Article published the May 13, 2021
Damaging pecking, or injurious pecking, is a major animal welfare concern. There are various forms of injurious pecking, including injurious feather pecking, feather picking, cannibalism, and aggressive pecking (see Table 1 on page 2). Not all species or breeds of birds perform the same types of injurious pecking behavior, and these behaviors do not all share the same motivations or causes.
Inj ...
Article published the May 11, 2021
The demand for poultry products continues to rise and, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, so has the popularity of backyard poultry flocks. With the current mandates for social distancing and isolation, those who are spending a greater amount of time at home view it as an opportunity to begin keeping poultry. However, as more families raise flocks as pets or to produce their own eggs ...
Article published the May 10, 2021
Ensuring welfare of birds at the farm is key to maintaining a healthy supply of eggs and chicken during the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on various industries, including the poultry and livestock sectors. Livestock prices are expected to go down by as much as 12%, causing billions of dollars in losses. Some examples of COVID-19 impacts on poultry production includ ...
Article published the May 10, 2021
Modifications to broiler chicken housing to improve animal welfare
Conventional housing of broiler chickens raises concern for their welfare. High stocking densities and barren environments have the potential to contribute to lameness, skin lesions (i.e., hock burns, breast burns, footpad dermatitis*), heat stress, and increased fear that, in turn, can result in piling up and mortality.
Enviro ...
News published on March 25, 2021
By Leonie Jacobs/Poultry Extension Collaborative Blog
Tessa Grebey and colleagues researched dustbathing behavior in a range of commercial laying hen breeds, including Hy-Line Brown, Bovan Brown, DeKalb White, and Hy-Line birds.
They found that strains respond to social situations differently.
DeKalb White and Hy-Line W36 birds dustbathe in larger groups (10-11 birds), compared to the ...
Participation in Forum on March 23, 2021
Hi! Without knowing too much about your specific poultry system, I would say that ventilation would be a key management approach to avoid heat stress in poultry. High levels of air flow will reduce heat stress even if temperatures are quite high. Another potential approach could be to cool the water that birds have access to, but this may not be feasible. Hope this helps!
Article published the March 8, 2021
Identifying behavioral signs is key to managing heat stress in poultry
Every year, high summer temperatures have important effects on poultry health and welfare. Heat stress occurs when poultry cannot adapt to high environmental temperatures and need to expend energy to maintain their body temperature within the ideal range.
Heat stress can be a problem for any poultry and can affect birds at ...
Article published the February 22, 2021
Animal Welfare is Key to the Sustainability of the Poultry Industry
Animal welfare is in the eye of the beholder. Some consumers are willing to pay more for products from companies with reputations that align with their beliefs. The concept of animal welfare is shaped, in-part, by the ethics of what constitutes a quality life. With a heavy animal activist influence, the consumer is the primary ...