Broiler Chickens is a short practical book of guidelines and advice to good welfare practice in broiler chicken farming. With contributions from world expert researchers in poultry welfare, this book distils academic research into applied advice on the farm for industry and farm workers. The content covered includes health and disease impacts with a One Health focus, housing for optimal health, broiler breeders, hatchery management, broiler slaughter practices, transport, animal welfare assessment measures and a discussion of welfare improvement measures on the farm. 5m Books

Animal welfare considerations are becoming increasingly important for the keeping and farming of animals, both in Australia and internationally. Practices that may have once been deemed acceptable are now being reassessed in light of new knowledge and changing attitudes. The minimum standards outlined in this Code are intended to help people involved in the care and management of poultry to adopt standards of husbandry that are acceptable. Special requirements for various species are given in the appendices. This Code of Practice is intended as a guide for people responsible for the welfare and husbandry of domestic poultry. It recognizes that the basic requirement for welfare of poultry is a husbandry system appropriate to their physiological and behavioral needs. The Code emphasizes that--whatever the form of husbandry--managers, employees and all others responsible for the day-to-day needs of domestic poultry have a responsibility to care for poultry under their control.

D to meet the obligations under the laws that operate in Australia's States and Territories.

Recent interest in how poultry are housed and managed in order to ensure profitability, sustainability, and good levels of animal welfare, are challenging issues that commercial poultry keepers face, particularly where legislation is bringing about legal requirements for housing. This book compares and contrasts alternative housing with conventional and traditional systems for commercial poultry (laying hens, meat chickens, turkeys, waterfowl and gamebirds) with regards to welfare, disease, health, nutrition, sustainability and genotype-environment interaction. It is suitable for researchers and students in poultry science. .

This comprehensive research book represents the first complete integration of current knowledge in this area. It addresses issues associated with poultry breeding particularly by examining quantitative and molecular genetics and the uses of transgenic technology. A special section covers the important area of disease resistance and transmission.

A comprehensive review of all aspects of commercial production systems, this book provides an up-to-date look at all aspects of broiler breeder production and management, starting with specialized genetic programs as developed by the primary breeders and ending with two chapters on very practical, hands-on aspects of breeder management, including extensive coverage of health management, feeding systems, environmental control, lighting programs and all aspects of male and female reproduction. Recognizing the diversity of management systems worldwide, the authors have included breeders in both temperate and warm climates and also for controlled environment vs.curtain-sided housing systems. This unique publication is an essential reference for all professionals involved in broiler breeder production.

Broiler breeder chickens are the parent stock used to produce broiler chickens raised for human consumption and have long been caught in a welfare dilemma. The immensely successful selection of fast-growing meat-type chickens over the last 80 years has created a remarkably efficient meat-producer and given us access to cheap chicken meat but has also created health problems for the animals. These problems especially affect the breeder generation, which must be raised with strict feed restriction to limit weight gain and thus maintain physical health and normal fertility. At the same time, however, feed restriction causes chronic hunger and feeding frustration with reduced animal welfare as a result. In the EU alone 60 million breeders are affected annually and although the problem is well-known within the industry, there is financial incentive to keep selecting for even higher growth potential in broilers, further increasing the problems for broiler breeders. Many strategies for reducing the impact of growth restriction on breeder welfare have been suggested and are usually aimed at somehow increasing the amount of feed given at feeding times. This can be done either through adding bulky fibers to the diet or by reducing feeding frequency. In this thesis, focus is on the latter as we explore the effects of intermittent fasting (IF) on the welfare of young broiler breeders as well as wild-type Red Junglefowl. Intermittent fasting, or “skip-a-day” feeding, is supposedly the most common feeding strategy for broiler breeders worldwide but is perceived as welfare-reducing and thus illegal in Sweden and several other European countries. In spite of this, the scientific knowledge of how this type of feeding affects chicken welfare is scarce. Assessing the overall effect of IF on breeder welfare is complicated by large variations in both physiological and behavioral parameters between feeding and fasting days, but it does appear that chicken welfare is improved at least on the feeding days of IF regimens. It also seems that some of the health benefits reported from mammalian studies of IF may apply to chickens as well, although behavioral indicators still point to welfare issues unless the level of feed restriction can be relaxed. In comparison with daily feed restriction, IF appears to increase the motivation for feed consumption but to reduce the motivation for appetitive behaviors such as foraging, which may explain why birds fed on this type of schedule are often reported as calmer.