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By Arnold Elson, Chairperson WPSA, working group 9 on Poultry Welfare and Management and International Consultant, UK
This article is forward looking, but we must first briefly trace the progress of poultry welfare over the past 50 years or so. Concern over the welfare of farm animals, especially poultry, developed in the late 1960s following the publication of Ruth Harrison’s book “Animal Machines” in 1964, closely followed by the Brambell Report on the Welfare of Animals kept under Intensive Livestock Husbandry Systems, which was prepared for the UK government in 1965.During the ensuing years various animal welfare organisations emerged, research groups were set up and legislation was passed to further protect the well-being of farm animals. The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) was established by the UK government in 1979 to advise Ministers on any legislative or other changes required as they became necessary. FAWC formulated, and is guided by, the ideals that became known as the “Five Freedoms”, which incorporate freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain, injury or disease, freedom to express normal behaviour, and freedom from fear and distress.
Progress in the past
Organisations in Europe and beyond also studied and developed animal welfare ideals. There have been several milestones. In 1988, the EU ratified the Convention for the Protection of Animals kept for Farming Purposes, one of five Council of Europe conventions covering animal welfare. In 1997, the Treaty of Amsterdam recognised that “animals are sentient beings” and required “full regard to be paid to their welfare when policies … are formulated”. In 2004, the first global conference on animal welfare was held in Paris by the World Heath Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). In 2006, the Animal Welfare in Europe Workshop was convened to consider achievements and future prospects. A main objective was ‘to bridge the gap between animal welfare legislation and practical application’.
Poultry were an important part of these processes, with laying hens kept in cages as the main target. Broiler welfare was also a concern, in particular skeletal deformities in fast growing genotypes. In 1972, the European Federation of the WPSA decided to establish a specialist working group on poultry welfare. WPSA Working Group 9, of which the author was a founder member, was therefore formed in 1973 and held its inaugural meeting the same year in Germany. It rapidly became recognised as an important influence in poultry welfare research and the implementation of research findings in the design and development of poultry husbandry systems with improved welfare.
European Union Council Directives were adopted to protect the welfare of laying hens in battery cages (1988/166/ EEC), of laying hens in all production systems (1999/74/EC), and more recently of chickens kept for meat production (2007/43/EC). These have influenced system design and husbandry practices to improve bird welfare, and will continue to do so for some years to come; for example 99/74/EC prohibits laying hens being kept in barren conventional (un-enriched) cages in all Member States with effect from 01/01/2012.
The present
Much effort has been expended in this field in recent years and considerable progress has been made. Poultry welfare is now better understood, and a variety of problems have been at least partially solved. However, although several welfare indicators have been recognised, poultry welfare is still not easy to measure. It is also important to distinguish between scientific measures and consumer perceptions. The term ‘welfare-friendly system’ is now widely used to describe certain systems, such as free-range egg production.
Consequently, an increasing number of consumers pay a premium for ‘free-range’ eggs as time goes by (Figure 1) without realising that: most of the eggs in the ‘free-range’ pack they buy have been laid by hens that have never been outside (though they are free to do so), greater rates of bone breakage in free-range systems represent a serious welfare issue and may compromise the welfare benefits of free-range systems, and although free-range hens have more freedom and a wider behavioural repertoire than those in most other systems, they are subject to the risk of greater welfare hazards.
A 4-year Bristol University research study completed this year has revealed that, considering the indicators of physical wellbeing and stress response that were measured, the welfare of laying hens in the furnished (enriched) cage system appeared to be better than that of hens in other systems.
At present, public perceptions of laying hen welfare, and therefore choice of production system, vary considerably between countries across Europe, ranging from almost 100% cages in Spain and the Czech Republic to under 30% in Austria, with others in between. It is still true that welfare needs to be improved in all husbandry systems! Some problems are difficult to solve and remain, despite much research effort. An example of this is a common form of feather pecking that can lead to injurious flesh pecking and death by cannibalism. A related unsolved welfare concern is that of mutilation i.e. the intervention of beak treatment (partial amputation) in order to minimise the problem of cannibalism. At present, beak trimming is required more in loose housing systems (especially those with natural daylight) than in cages installed in houses with good control of light intensity.
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Source: World Poultry, vol. 25, no.09, 2009.
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