Species: Laying hens

Global Animal Partnership Releases Initial List of Eligible Broiler Breeds for Animal Welfare Certification

Robin Chwatko

Published in 2021

News item presenting the results of scientific work commissioned by the Global Animal Partnership to understand and measure the welfare levels of broiler chickens. This work has resulted in a list of breeds that have high genetic welfare levels and are therefore recommended for welfare-friendly breeding.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Societal issues, Risk management, Welfare indicators, Stress, Livestock farming system

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ChickenTrack - Rapport européen 2021

CIWF France

Published in 2021

The CIWF's first ChickenTrack 2021 report, an EggTrack-based tool to track the progress of major food companies that have signed up to the Better Chicken Commitment to improve broiler welfare in, for example, the reduction of stocking densities, environmental enrichment, and the raising of slower-growing strains.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Enrichment, Housing, Human-animal relationships, Societal issues

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EggTrack - Rapport 2021

CIWF France

Published in 2021

The CIWF's EggTrack 2021 report, tracking the progress made by major food companies in addressing the welfare of laying hens. It notes real progress towards cage-free rearing across the world, and the efforts made in France to provide access to the outdoors and to create winter gardens.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Enrichment, Housing, Human-animal relationships, Societal issues

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Centennial Review: A revisiting of hen welfare and egg safety consequences of mandatory outdoor access for organic egg production

Peter S. Holt

Published in 2021

A scientific review comparing the welfare of laying hens and the sanitary quality of their eggs in free-range and indoor systems. It concludes that diseases are more frequent and severe and that there is a greater risk of Salmonella infections and the contamination of eggs by toxic industrial by-products in hens with access to the outdoors.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Societal issues, Risk management, Housing, Living environment, Livestock farming system, Pathogen transfer

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Animal Welfare Assessment in Antibiotic-Free and Conventional Broiler Chicken

Luigi Iannetti, Sara Romagnoli, Giuseppe Cotturone, Michele Podaliri Vulpiani

Published in 2021

Scientific paper comparing the main animal welfare criteria for batches of chickens reared with and without antibiotics, showing that the overall scores are comparable, especially for health indicators, and that batches of chickens reared without antibiotics had a better management score but scored less well on the good-feeding principle.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Enrichment, Living environment, Human-animal relationships, Stress, Livestock farming system, Welfare indicators

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Methodologies to Assess the Bioactivity of an Herbal Extract on Immunity, Health, Welfare and Production Performance in the Chicken: The Case of Melissa officinalis L. Extract

Angélique Travel, Angélique Petit, Perrine Barat, Anne Collin, Camille Bourrier-Clairat, Marion Pertusa, Fabien Skiba, Sabine Crochet, Estelle Cailleau-Audouin, Pascal Chartrin, Vanaïque Guillory, Denis Bellenot, Rodrigo Guabiraba,Laurence A. Guilloteau

Published in 2021

Scientific paper demonstrating the potential of lemon balm extracts to enhance the immunity of broiler chickens, with a view to reducing the use of antimicrobials. It describes the methodology for the production of stable lemon balm extracts in vitro and in chicken feed, and shows their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential ex vivo and using an experimental model for chickens whose initial conditions are suboptimal.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Enrichment

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Keel bone fractures in Danish laying hens: Prevalence and risk factors

Ida C. N. Thøfner, Jan Dahl, Jens Peter Christensen

Published in 2021

Scientific paper which estimates the prevalence of brevis fractures in laying hens in Denmark to range  between 53 and 100% according to individual flocks in non-cage systems, and between 50 and 98% in cage systems. The major risk factors it identifies are hen size, age at onset of laying and daily egg weight at onset of laying.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords: Pain, Livestock farming system

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Associations between behaviour and health outcomes in conventional and slow-growing breeds of broiler chicken

S M Abeyesinghe, N M Chancellor, D Hernandez Moore, Y-M Chang, J Pearce, T Demmers, C J Nicol

Published in 2021

Scientific paper identifying particular behaviours associated with better health (more time spent in an iother small companion animalstive standing position, use of the perch, walking, high energy levels, exploratory behaviour), and others associated with poorer health (more time spent in an iother small companion animalstive lateral position or in an iother small companion animalstive sitting position, preferential use of litter over other resources) in broilers.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords: Animal-based measurements, Welfare indicators

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Enhancing the value of meat inspection records for broiler health and welfare surveillance: longitudinal detection of relational patterns

S. N. Buzdugan, P. Alarcon, B. Huntington, J. Rushton, D. P. Blake, J. Guitian

Published in 2021

A scientific paper that uses data from UK abattoir broiler meat inspection records to highlight relationships between different conditions leading to condemnation of batches that would be useful for monitoring animal health and welfare. It highlights relationships that suggest the presence of syndromes in certain months of the year, potentially providing a basis on which to identify surveillance indicators for broiler producers to use.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Carcass quality, Processing

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La fin de l’élimination des poussins mâles programmée pour 2022

Christophe Violette

Published in 2021

Article reviewing the ban on the crushing of male chicks that will come in on 1 January 2022 in France, and describing the in ovo sexing method that is advocated as an alternative by the French Government. However, this method entails a significant financial cost for breeders, that will partly be covered by the State.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Pain, Societal issues, Livestock farming system

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