Animal category: Poultry

Answer to a question on the degree to which  EFSA's proposals to improve the welfare of poultry at slaughter are taken into consideration

Welfare problems encountered on broiler farms - Literature review

Good practice methods for the waterbath slaughter of poultry

Now that animal welfarek trimming has been called into question in the European Union, farmers must plan for a shift in the medium term to egg production from untrimmed hens. This guide sets out the different actions that can be carried out as part of a whole-animal approach to farming in order to limit the risk of severe pecking in pullets and laying hens.

This Guide to Good Practice is intended to improve animal welfare during transport by providing practical tools to meet regulatory requirements while suggesting improvements in practice that go beyond the legislation.
The practices in this guide are based on scientific knowledge and publications and on experience and information gathered from stakeholders. No distinction is made between different types of knowledge producer unless this is considered necessary for a better understanding or verification of the source. Its contents may be used to develop company-specific guidelines or Standard Operating Procedures for transporters or other stakeholders, or as a reference source for practical transport management that respects animal welfare.

Preview: “Animal-based measures (ABM) can be used effectively in the on-farm evaluation of broiler welfare in relation to laws, codes of practice, quality assurance schemes, management and also partly for ante-mortem inspection. Some ABM can also be taken post-mortem at the slaughterhouse. Non-animal-based measures can be used when the association between them and the welfare outcome is strong and when they are more efficient than ABM as a means to safeguard welfare. They can also be useful predictors of welfare in broilers. The choice of animal-based measures will depend upon the specific objectives of the assessment. The full list is comparable to a „toolbox‟, from which the appropriate set of measures can be selected.”

Report on the welfare of broiler chickens, with particular reference to genetics, space allowances and health problems encountered in production (particularly in fast-growing strains)

Assessment of turkey welfare using the transect method

The study aims to investigate the effects of different types of environmental complexity on leg health and welfare indicators for fast-growing chickens housed in accordance with mainstream European legislation.