Improving Chicken Welfare

a. Housing and Environment

1. Maintain adequate space allowance to avoid overcrowding, which reduces aggression, feather pecking, and stress.
2. Provide proper ventilation to control temperature, humidity, and ammonia levels.
3. Ensure clean, dry litter to prevent footpad dermatitis and hock burns.
4. Lighting programs should allow periods of darkness for rest and natural rhythms.

b. Feeding and Nutrition

• Provide nutritionally balanced feed according to the age, breed, and production stage.
• Ensure continuous access to clean drinking water.
• Reduce feed restriction in broiler breeders to improve welfare, while maintaining reproductive control.
• Use feeders and drinkers in adequate numbers to minimize competition.

c. Health and Disease Management

• Implement biosecurity measures to prevent introduction of pathogens.
• Routine vaccination against Newcastle disease, Marek’s disease, Infectious bursal disease, etc.
• Monitor for parasites, respiratory issues, lameness, and feather loss.
• Prompt isolation and treatment of sick birds.

d. Breeding and Genetics

• Avoid selecting only for fast growth in broilers, which leads to lameness, metabolic disorders, and heart failure.
• Promote breeding programs that consider robustness, adaptability, and leg health.
• Reduce genetic lines that are prone to skeletal deformities or reproductive problems.

e. Behavioral Needs and Enrichment

• Provide perches, nest boxes, and dust-bathing areas for laying hens to express natural behaviors.
• Use straw bales, pecking blocks, or hanging objects to reduce feather pecking and cannibalism.
• Allow access to outdoor runs or enriched colony systems where possible.
• Reduce stress by keeping flocks at manageable sizes for proper monitoring.

f. Handling and Transport

• Train handlers in gentle handling techniques to avoid injuries.
• Avoid catching hens by legs or wings – use proper supportive handling.
• Ensure crates and vehicles are well-ventilated, not overcrowded, and with non-slip flooring.
• Keep journeys as short as possible to reduce stress and mortality.

g. Specific Improvements for Laying Hens

• Replace battery cages with enriched cages, aviary, or free-range systems.
• Provide nest boxes to prevent floor laying.
• Reduce beak trimming by managing environment and enrichment.
• Prevent osteoporosis with balanced calcium and phosphorus nutrition.

h. Specific Improvements for Broilers (Meat Chickens)

• Reduce stocking density to allow freedom of movement and improve leg health.
• Implement longer growth cycles with slower-growing strains to avoid health issues.
• Provide better litter management to prevent footpad dermatitis and burns.
• Ensure proper light-dark cycles for rest.

i. Welfare Monitoring

• Regularly assess feather condition, lameness scores, mortality rates, footpad lesions, and behavior.
• Welfare audits help in continuous improvement and compliance with standards.