Species: Laying hens

Animal Welfare Committee: opinion on alternatives to culling newly hatched chicks in the egg and poultry industry

Animal Welfare Committtee (UK)

Published in 2023

Report on technologies with the potential to help end the culling of newly hatched male chicks. It identifies the possible risks to welfare posed by their use, and puts forward alternative  ideas and views on the matter.

Document Types: Opinions

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Consciousness, Pain, Euthanasia, Welfare indicators, Societal issues, Stress

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Humans can identify reward-related call types of chickens

Nicky McGrath, Clive J. C. Phillips , Oliver H. P. Burman , Cathy M. Dwyer, Joerg Henning

Published in 2024

Scientific article testing whether humans can distinguish between chicken calls produced in different contexts (ie. chickens either expect or don't expect a reward), identify emotional valence (positive or negative) and intensity, and assess how excited chickens are, based on their calls. 

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Human-animal relationships, Vocalisation

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Guidance: Poultry welfare off the farm

Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (UK)

Published in 2023

Update of the guide originally published in 2012 by the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), on how to manage the health and welfare of poultry during transport, at market and at slaughter

Document Types: Good practice guide

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Societal issues, Human-animal relationships, Transport

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European Parliament: Written answer to Question E-002825/2023: A call to ban debeaking in Europe

Aurélia Beigneux (ID). Reply: Mrs Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2023

Answer to a question on the measures the European Commission intends to take to limit or even ban the debeaking of laying hens and, more generally, to better control intensive farming and encourage animal welfare on farms.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Pain, Societal issues, Welfare indicators, Mutilation, Livestock farming system

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European Parliament: written answer to question E-003166/23: Extending the use of in-ovo chick sexing methods to all poultry products sold on the EU market

Annika Bruna (ID), Eric Minardi (ID), Ivan Vilibor Sinčić (NI), Petras Auštrevičius (Renew), Elżbieta Kruk (ECR), Aurélia Beigneux (ID). Reply: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2023

Answer to a question on the European Commission's intentions regarding the extension of the ban on the killing of male chicks to all member states and third countries.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Pain, Societal issues, Human-animal relationships, Stress

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Décision n° 461367 du Conseil d’Etat concernant la notion de rémaménagement des bâtiments cage pour les poules pondeuses

Conseil d'État

Published in 2023

Text of the decision to reject the petition filed by 9 animal protection associations to partially disapply the  Decree of December 15, 2021, with regard to its interpretation of the concept of redevelopment as it applies to buildings used to rear laying hens in cages.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords: Livestock buildings, Housing

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Comment les volailles perçoivent et interprètent leur environnement : recherche scientifique et exemples d’application

Rachel Degrande, Vitor Hugo Bessa Ferreira, Vanessa Guesdon, Ludovic Calandreau

Published in 2023

Scientific review emphasising that poultry have varied and well-developed senses, that they interact with each other, that they are capable of learning, and that they have  a much wider repertoire of cognitive skills than is often assumed.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements, Learning, training, Enrichment, Memory, Living environment, Cognitive processes

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Leg disorders in broiler chickens: a review of current knowledge

Kai-li Liu, Yan-feng He, Bo-wen Xu, Lu-xi Lin, Pan Chen, Muhammad Kashif Iqbal, Khalid Mehmood, Shu-cheng Huang

Published in 2023

Scientific review of chicken leg disorders, their prevalence on farms and the associated risk factors, the consequences for welfare and production performance, and their diagnosis and prevention.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Pain, Societal issues, Risk management, Welfare indicators

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Indice international d’équité des engagements œufs hors-cage

Mercy for Animals

Published in 2023

Mercy for Animals' 3rd International Cage-Free Equity Index of commitment by companies. The index ranks 40 food companies on their commitment to sourcing cage-free eggs, and on the transparency of their communication on progress. Carrefour, Groupe Casino and Sodexo appear at the bottom of the ranking.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords: Enrichment, Housing, Living environment,Societal issues, livestock farming system

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A literature review of broiler chicken welfare, husbandry, and assessment

Cara Helena Wilcox, Victoria Sandilands, Novi Mayasari, Indrawati Yudha Asmara, Asep Anang

Published in 2023

Scientific review examining the main commercial broiler farming systems in Indonesia, looking at assessment methods, indicators, main welfare problems, and opportunities for improvement.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Enrichment, Housing, Human-animal relationships, Pain, Welfare indicators

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