Readership
Poultry science, meat and food science, veterinary medicine, animal behaviour and welfare.

Key Features

• Provides a comprehensive overview of current knowledge on broiler welfare
• Links knowledge on broiler welfare to practical farm auditing
• Fills a major gap in the existing literature

Main Description
In response to concerns about animal welfare, food assurance schemes are now incorporating standards for animal welfare. This is particularly important in the poultry industry, where much attention has focused on the welfare of broilers (meat birds). However, there is as a result a greater need for scientifically-based methods for the measurement and auditing of welfare.

This book brings together papers by international experts from the academic, professional and industrial sectors. It examines practical ways of measuring and auditing broiler welfare on-farm, during transit and pre-slaughter. Related marketing issues and future developments such as automation, are also discussed.

Main Contents

• Foreword, I Duncan, University of Guelph, Canada
• Introduction, C Weeks

PART 1: OUTCOMES (ANIMAL BASED)

• Lameness, J Mench, University of California, Davis, USA
• Measuring and auditing the welfare of broiler breeders, P Hocking, Roslin Institute (Edinburgh), UK
• Pododermatitis and hockburn in broiler chickens, C Berg, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
• Evaluating the impact of metabolic disorders on the welfare of broilers, R Julian, University of Guelph, Canada
• Infectious disease – morbidity and mortality, A Butterworth
• Abnormal behaviour and fear, G S Sanotra, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden, and C Weeks, University of Bristol, UK

PART 2: INPUTS (RESOURCE BASED)

• The significance of biosecurity to broiler welfare, M Pattison, Independent Poultry Consultant, UK
• Feed, S H Gordon and A W Walker, ADAS Gleadthorpe, UK, and D R Charles, D C R&D, UK
• Light, N B Prescott, Silsoe Research Institute, UK, H H Kristensen, Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Denmark, and C M Wathes, Silsoe Research Institute, UK
• Air hygiene, C Wathes, Silsoe Research Institute, UK
• Stocking density, W Bessei, University of Hohenheim, Germany
• Transport and handling, M A Mitchell, Roslin Insitute (Edinburgh), UK, and P J Kettlewell, Silsoe Research Institute, UK
• Primary Processing of Poultry, S Wotton and L Wilkin ,University of Bristol, UK

PART 3: WELFARE AND AUDITING ISSUES

Section 1: Production Systems
• Comparing welfare in different systems, S M Haslam and S C Kestin, University of Bristol, UK
• Human factors influencing broiler welfare, P H Hemsworth, Victorian Institute of Animal Science, Australia, and G J Coleman, Monash University, Australia
Section 2: Examples of auditing schemes and their effectiveness in assuring welfare
• Auditing systems - are we effective? P Cook, RL Consulting Ltd, UK
• Is UK farm assurance delivering good welfare? D Main and H R Whay, University of Bristol, UK
• Using welfare outcomes to control intensification: The Swedish Model, C Berg and B Algers, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden
• Developing and implementing a welfare audit in the Australian chicken meat industry, J L Barnett, Victorian Institute of Animal Science, Australia, and P C Glatz, South Australian Research and Development Institute, Australia
Section 3: Ethical, political and future perspectives
• Does broiler welfare matter and to whom? D B Morton, University of Birmingham, UK
• Public attitudes and expectations, M C Appleby, The Humane Society of the United States, USA
• A global perspective on broiler welfare standards, P Lymbery, World Society for the Protection of Animals, UK
• Measuring broiler chicken behaviour and welfare: perspectives for automation , L PJJ Noldus, Noldus Information Technolgy, b.v., The Netherlands, and R G Jansen, Wageningen, The Netherlands