Article published the December 1, 2021
This newsletter provides an overview of the anatomy of the keel bone, risk factors and welfare implications associated with keel fractures, how to assess keel bone integrity, and management strategies to mitigate keel fractures in laying hens.Keel bone fractures and resulting deformations constitute the most pressing challenge for laying hens at present. The extent of the welfare repercussions to ...
Article published the November 3, 2021
Leg problems are among the top health concerns of poultry raised for meat. Leg problems influence poultry at all stages of production, lead to reduced productivity and contribute to mortality. Leg problems have many different causes and contributing factors, including infectious causes, growth rate and weight gain, diet, lighting program, light intensity, stocking density (space available per anim ...
Article published the July 30, 2021
Footpad dermatitis is a common type of contact dermatitis in poultry, which means feet are inflamed and show associated corrosive lesions or ulcers on pads and/or toes. Footpad dermatitis lesions often have a black appearance, because of cell necrosis (cell death). These lesions can be superficial or deep.These lesions are an animal welfare problem because they are painful depending on the severit ...
Article published the July 13, 2021
1. IntroductionContact 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 wors ...
Article published the June 25, 2021
On-Farm Welfare Assessment: Laying HensIn 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 housed in ...
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.Injurio ...
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 an ...
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 pandemicThe 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 include di ...
Article published the May 10, 2021
Modifications to broiler chicken housing to improve animal welfareConventional 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.Environmenta ...
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 ...