Egg Industry - December 2017 - 6
6 ❙ EggIndustry Improve poultry welfare with outcome-based standards Welfare standards based on objective measurements of outcomes for poultry present an opportunity for innovation and will lead to improved bird welfare. TERRENCE O'KEEFE Many poultry welfare schemes have primarily relied on resource-based measures like inches of perch space per layer, maximum number of pounds of broiler allowed per square foot of floor space, or the number of square inches allocated per hen in either a cage or cage-free environment. Dr. Joy Mench, chairperson of the United Egg Producers' (UEP) scientific advisory committee, said resource-based measures have some advantages because they tend to be easy to measure and translate into legal requirements. Mench told the audience at the United Egg Producers Executive Conference that resource-based welfare measures are sometimes derived from research study results, but not always. Even if the welfare standards reflect research results, resource-based measures reflect results with specific breeds of birds at a moment in time. The results might not be the same with a different breed or even with the same breed a few years later as selective breeding changes that line of birds. Simply put, she said resource-based measures are inflexible and do not always improve animal welfare. Outcome-based welfare standards Mench said space allocated per bird in poultry houses is a good example of how resource-based measures don't always ensure improved welfare. She said Dr. Marian Dawkins conducted research on commercial broiler farms in the U.K. looking at the effect of space on outcomebased measures like foot pad condition and lameness. "What she found was that space was not a terribly important factor in causing these problems. What really was important was litter management and ventilation and air quality," said Mench. "What was more important was how good the producers were in managing their flocks." "This work led the EU to change their ideas of how they would set space requirements. Now, producers are allowed to have relatively high stocking densities, as long as they don't have foot problems and lameness. If you have lameness issues, then you have to reduce stocking density until you can resolve the problem," she said. Outcome-based welfare measures attempt to quantify the impact of the bird's environment and the management of the poultry house on the bird. Examples of outcome-based measures are morbidity and mortality, body condition, feather cover, injury and air quality. Sometimes outcome-based measures are referred to as animal-based measures. www.WATTAgNet.com ❙ December 2017