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Poultry welfare
Proper animal welfare involves providing the proper housing, management, nutrition, disease prevention and treatment, responsible care, humane handling and, when necessary, humane euthanasia. These factors allow for the most optimal and humane growing environment. The concept of animal welfare includes three elements: the bird’s normal biological functioning, its emotional state and its ability to express its natural behaviors. Improving animal welfare can be accomplished through offerings like poultry feed enrichment, which can reduce stress, thereby increasing performance, productivity and profitability. Animal welfare is currently a major requirement for intensive poultry production. Beak trimming, stocking density, free access to feed, heat stress, and air pollutants became important issues, which are regulated in several countries. Animal welfare is observed by watching how birds naturally behave and even by looking at mortality stemming from aggressive behaviors.
Feather pecking is synonymous with economic and major welfare problems in the poultry industry and is positively associated with feather ingestion. In a choice-feeding experiment, laying hens showed a stronger preference for unwashed compared to washed feathers (McKeegan and Savory, 2001). The attraction toward unwashed feathers could be related to the preen oil produced by the uropygial glands located dorsally at the base of the tail. Preen oil covers the feathers during the process of...
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Beak trimming can have serious consequences on hen welfare, health and production. However, compared to hot blade trimming, the infra-red technique has resulted in more uniform beak length and symmetry (Dennis et al., 2009). Pecking stones (Analysed Values: 20.50% calcium, 4.30% phosphorus, 5.0% sodium and 2.50% magnesium) have been used in Europe and are reported to blunt hens’ beaks and alter pecking behaviour (Glatz and Runge, 2017). The objective of the current study was to...
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Travis Schaal talks about the importance of biosecurity to prevent avian influenza outbreaks
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In recent years, in response to consumer concerns regarding welfare of birds, there has been a move from caged to free-range production systems. This change has resulted in increased exposure of hens to pathogens, including parasites, which can compromise the welfare of the animal (Wongrak et al., 2015). Amongst helminths, Ascaridia galli is the most abundant nematode in poultry, and can cause significant economic losses and negative impacts on bird health and welfare (Daş et al.,...
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Dr. Mário Penz (Cargill) discusses the consequences of not managing water properly and the different factors to consider regarding its quality, during this Engormix interview....
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As the global egg industry moves steadily toward cage-free production, ensuring a successful transition from rearing to laying is more critical than ever. Hy-Line pullets raised in environments that prepare them for the complexities of cage-free layer systems are far more likely to meet their full genetic...
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While the breeding programs of commercial meat chickens select birds with robust legs (Davis, 2015), poor leg strength and reduced locomotion are frequently observed in late stages of growth. We have previously reported that lower egg shell temperatures during early incubation, which delays chick hatch time, increases bone ash (BA) (Muir and Groves, 2017). Observations from our research and the literature (e.g. Ulmer-Franco et al., 2010) suggest that maternal breeder flock age may influence...
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Janjaap Van der Mark, Director of Global Environmental Solutions at Big Dutchman, shares key strategies for turning waste into value, reducing environmental impact, and driving sustainability in modern farming. ...
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Andrew Gomer, Senior Business Development Advisor at Nova-Tech Poultry, discusses the company’s advanced technologies that support sustainable egg production. ...
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1. Introduction It is well known that the major cost in poultry farming is feed, representing 70% of the total production costs [1]. In order to reduce this cost, the research has recently focused on exploring and evaluating new sources of raw materials from agricultural and industrial by-products for use as animal feed. Key benefits of this practice include lower dependence of animal production on human consumed seeds and reduced waste management costs [2]. Around 2.1 million tons...
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1. Introduction Aggressive behavior of roosters toward hens are rare in natural environments, where the two sexes form separate social hierarchies and male dominance is expressed in a passive manner [1–3]. However, it has been observed that males from broiler parental lines exhibit a high frequency of aggression toward females, especially during the display of sexual behavior [4–13]. This pattern of mating-related aggression has also been observed in slow-growing broiler...
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Speculation over the Provisional Ruling on Anti-dumping Duties of Lysine by the EU Against China
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The ancestor of the modern-day chicken, the red jungle fowl, was exposed to different spectra of light in their natural habitat (Prescott et al., 2003). The surrounding environment, vegetation, season, and time of day all affect the color of light exposure to the wild bird (Endler, 1993), which may have lingering behavioral...
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Heat stress is a huge problem in farm animals, as their welfare and performance can be negatively affected by extreme environmental conditions. When animals are exposed to very high or low temperatures outside their comfort range, they might experience heat stress. This can bring about various unfavorable consequences, such as decreased food intake, reduced zootechnical performance, alterations in the immune system, and increased susceptibility to diseases. Mechanisms through which...
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Walking on eggshells - assessing anxiety in chickens Extension collaborative for the poultry industry -Attention bias...
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In poultry farming, worms and protozoa represent the two primary classes of internal parasites that impact bird health, welfare, and productivity. While indoor-reared poultry typically avoid infestation from worms that require intermediate hosts, free-range birds are more susceptible. Interestingly, broilers tend to...
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Introduction Animal welfare pertains to the quality of life of an animal, denoting the cumulative positive and negative experiences of an animal 1 . The welfare of farmed animals impacts their development and productivity, shaping both...
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Enrichment is the process of improving the environment of an animal, to meet their behavioral needs and ultimately improve their welfare. Enrichment helps to reduce stress and improve welfare by providing physical and mental stimulation, encouraging highly-motivated species specific behaviors, allowing the animal more control over their...
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Housing systems for laying hens in the United States (and more broadly across the world) are transitioning away from conventional cages to cage- free systems....
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This issue will cover: -What are behavioral needs? -What is dustbathing? -Dustbathing in commercial housing systems Substrate...
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Travis Schaal talks about the importance of biosecurity to prevent avian influenza outbreaks
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In this issue: Introduction to the gut microbiome The function of prominent bacterial phyla Introduction to the gut-brain axis How microbial imbalance affects poultry welfare Practical strategies to improve the gut health of poultry What is the gut...
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I. INTRODUCTION Production improvements in commercial meat chickens via genetic selection and improved husbandry have resulted in rapid growing birds. These birds have endemically reduced locomotor ability; a conservative estimate is that 30% of birds in a flock are likely to have poor mobility (Knowles et al, 2008). Leg weakness has a direct impact on production due to lower bird quality, which may result in culls or condemnation of carcasses. While not well understood, early rapid...
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