1. The objectives of the present study were to validate a reduced, non-intrusive version (RLS) of the LayWel plumage scoring system in domestic laying hens with reference to complete, intrusive scoring (CLS) and to investigate the effect of these two scoring methods on corticosterone metabolite concentrations. 2. A total of 312 medium-heavy laying hens from …
Feather pecking and cannibalism in chickens can lead to injury or to death of the victims, and is thus a serious welfare and economic issue in modern poultry farming. A sib selection scheme has been initiated to genetically select a low mortality line (LML), which shows decreased mortality due to cannibalism compared to a control …
Despite the large number of studies examining the impact of cage systems on Ca and P nutrition,data are limited on …
An experiment was carried out to determine melamine residual levels in eggs by feeding laying hens 200 or 1,000 mg …
The first International Technical Conference on Animal Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, took place from 3 to 7 September, 2007, in Interlaken, Switzerland. The main achievement of the Conference was the adoption of the Global Plan of Action for Animal Genetic Resources, the …
The Welfare Quality® project has developed an operational definition of farm animal welfare, which consists of 12 criteria grouped into four principles (‘good feeding’, ‘good housing’, ‘good health’ and ‘appropriate behaviour’). As part of a larger survey, 204 farmers, 72 vegetarians, and a representative sample of 459 adult citizens in Flanders (Belgium) scored the importance …
On-farm welfare assessment has been used mainly for non-regulatory purposes such as producer education or to qualify for voluntary welfare-assurance programs. The application of on-farm assessments in regulatory programs would require four issues to be addressed: (1) selecting criteria that arewidely accepted as valid by diverse citizens, (2) setting minimum legal levels, (3) achieving the …
Egg production systems have become subject to heightened levels of scrutiny. Multiple factors such as disease, skeletal and foot health, pest and parasite load, behavior, stress, affective states, nutrition, and genetics influence the level of welfare hens experience. Although the need to evaluate the influence of these factors on welfare is recognized, research is still …
Awareness of farm animal welfare issues is growing in Canada, as part of a larger food movement. The baseline Canadian standards for farm animal welfare – the Recommended Codes of Practice for the Care and Handling of Farm Animals – are up for revision. The success of these standards will depend in part on perceived legitimacy, which …
Prior to slaughter, most farmed birds move through a constant-voltage, multiple-bird, electrical water-bath stun system. Using this system subjects live …
In spite of the large amounts of money invested in research, breeding, and the improvement of commercial egg-type strains, high …
Layer breeding companies apply selection criteria to improve over 30 traits important for commercial egg production. Intensive selection for egg …
The social and political pressure to change egg production from conventional cage systems to alternative systems has been largely driven …
Conventional cage housing for laying hens evolved as a cost-effective egg production system. Complying with mandated hen housing alternatives would raise marginal production costs and require sizable capital investment. California data indicate that shifts from conventional cages to barn housing would likely cause farm-level cost increases of about 40% per dozen. The US data on …
By 2050, the global food requirement will increase significantly, driven by a population increase tomore than nine billion and by a richer diet. There is a need for agricultural and food systems that are not only more productive, but also sustainable. Currently, progress is hampered by a lack of understanding how to close the yield …