the welfare of broiler chickens - Compassion in World Farming

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THE WELFARE OF BROILER CHICKENS IN THE EUROPEAN UNIONCONTENTS1.0 Introduction: welfare in thebroiler industry 52.0 Overview of broiler chicken farming 72.1 Fast growth rates 72.2 Stocking density 72.3 Catching, transport and slaughter 85.0 Catching 215.1 Manual and machine catching 215.2 Thinning 225.3 Dead on arrival 226.0 Transport 236.1 Crowding and thermal stress 233.0 Selective breeding and fast growth 93.1 The role of the breeding companies 93.2 Leg problems and lameness 103.2.1 High incidence of lameness 103.2.2 Pain and dehydration 113.2.3 Causes of lameness 113.2.4 Lameness and selectivebreeding 123.3 Heart failure 133.4 Susceptibility to disease 143.5 Inactivity 143.6 Feed restriction and the welfare ofbroiler breeders 156.2 Need for regulation 237.0 The welfare of broiler chickensat slaughter 247.1 Unloading and shackling 247.2 Inadequate stunning 248.0 Alternatives: higher welfare inbroiler chicken farming 269.0 Conclusions: the welfare needsof broiler chickens 28References 304.0 Stocking density in broiler sheds 174.1 Crowding and restriction ofnatural behaviour 174.2 Litter quality, skin sores andfoot sores 184.3 Air pollution 184.4 Crowding and temperature control 194.5 Stocking density and welfare 194
THE WELFARE OF BROILER CHICKENS IN THE EUROPEAN UNION1.0 INTRODUCTION:WELFARE IN THE BROILER INDUSTRYBroiler chickens (often called ‘broilers’) are the specialised type of chicken rearedand eaten for their meat. Around 5.9 billion chickens for eating are producedyearly in the European Union (EU25). Mass production of chicken meat is aglobal industry and two or three breeding companies supply around 90% of theworld’s breeding broilers. The total number of meat chickens produced in theworld was nearly 47 billion in 2004, according to the FAO; of theseapproximately 19% were produced in the US, 15% in China, 13% in the EU25and 11% in Brazil (FAO, 2004). Chicken meat costs less than other meats andthis has rapidly increased its market share.In 2004 in the European Union (EU25) the number ofchickens farmed for meat was highest in France,followed by Spain, the UK, the Netherlands,Germany, Poland and Italy. Consumption of poultrymeat in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia andSlovakia was also among the highest in Europe in2002. Chicken consumption in Europe has increasedcompared to that of other meat; between 1985 and2003 the production of chicken meat in the countriesof the EU15 increased by 42% - while the productionof all meat increased by 16% (FAO, 2004). Chickenmeat consumption grew at about 2.6% a year duringthe 1990s in Europe and reached 17% of all meatconsumption in the EU (SCAHAW, 2000, sects. 5 and10). To meet this demand, the EU is expected toincrease both its production within the EU and theimport of poultry meat (FAS USDA, 2001). Importsof chicken from non-EU countries, especially fromBrazil and Thailand, are increasing, and competingwith EU production. The welfare standards forchickens in some non-EU countries may be evenlower than those of the EU.The welfare of the chickens in Europe and around theworld that supply this increasing demand has been amatter for great concern for at least a decade. Broilerchickens are slaughtered for meat typically at around6 weeks of age but even before then they suffer fromhigh rates of painful lameness. This is mainly becausethey are selectively bred to grow so fast that their legscannot support their rapidly increasing body size.Broilers also have high rates of heart disease (againbecause they grow so fast). They are often kept inovercrowded conditions that can damage their healthand they often develop skin sores. A scientific surveyat the beginning of the 1990s from the University ofBristol found that almost 26% of broiler chickens wereprobably suffering chronic pain and discomfort in thelast weeks of their lives as a result of lameness (Kestinet al., 1992). In 1992, the UK Farm Animal WelfareCouncil’s working party on the welfare of broilerchickens stated that they had found leg problems ofvarying degrees of severity on nearly every farmvisited and that the worst affected birds were onlyable to move with great difficulty, using their wings tobalance (FAWC, 1992).The scientific evidence suggests there has been noreal improvement in the welfare of broiler chickens inthe EU since 1990 - in some respects welfare has even5
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