Slower growing chickens experience higher welfare, commercial scale
study finds

Date:
September 16, 2020
Source:
University of Bristol
Summary:
Slower growing broiler chickens are healthier and have more fun
than conventional breeds of birds, new evidence from an independent
commercial scale farm trial has shown.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Slower growing broiler chickens are healthier and have more fun than conventional breeds of birds, new evidence from an independent commercial
scale farm trial has shown. The study carried out by researchers from
FAI Farms, the University of Bristol and The Norwegian University of
Life Sciences, is published today [16 September], in Scientific Reports.


==========================================================================
The majority of broilers produced for consumption are so called
conventional, fast-growing breeds. This study is the first to highlight
the welfare differences between fast and slower growing broilers in
a commercial setting utilising a comprehensive suite of positive and
negative welfare indictors. The authors conclude that, while there are
benefits of providing chickens with more space -- by slightly lowering
the animal density, changing to a slower growing breed results in much
better health and more positive experiences for these birds.

Annie Rayner, FAI's lead researcher, said: "Broilers are motivated to
perform a range of positive behaviours. These positive behaviours create positive experiences, resulting in enjoyment or pleasure. Displaying
positive behaviours improves an animal's quality of life. Our seminal
study found slow growing birds to have better health and perform more
positive behaviours than conventional fast growing broilers. A shift away
from fast-growing breeds would provide the most significant improvement
for the lives of the 142 million chickens produced in Europe every week."
Dr Siobhan Mullan, Senior Research Fellow in Animal Welfare at the
Bristol Vet School, added: "This first independent commercial scale trial provides robust evidence of the health and welfare benefits of slower
growing breeds of chicken. We hope that it will help to drive changes
in supply chains and large companies to bring about real improvements
to chicken welfare." The NGO-backed European Chicken Commitment (ECC)
has attracted widespread attention from commercial broiler production
with several major brands already having signed up -- including KFC,
Nestle, M&S and Nando's. This study set out to interrogate the commercial welfare implications of two critical aspects of the commitment -- a move
to slower growing breeds and lowering the stocking density.

The commercial-scale farm trial explored a comprehensive suite of
positive and negative welfare indicators in four production systems
varying in stocking density and breed. One slower growing breed (the
slowest) was stocked at a planned maximum density of 30 kg/m2, a second
slower growing breed at planned densities of 30 kg/m2 and 34 kg/m2, and
the welfare outcomes were compared to those of a standard fast-growing
breed stocked at 34kg/m2.

At the lower density, the slowest growing breed was found to have
slightly better welfare than the other slower growing breed -- as
indicated by lower mortality, fewer rejections at processing and better
walking ability.

Differences in welfare of the slower growing breed stocked at two
densities were small. However, prominent differences were found between
the standard fast-growing birds stocked at 34kg/m2 and birds in the
three other systems. The standard birds experienced poorer health as
indicated by higher levels of mortality, hock burn and pododermatitis as
well as greater rejections at processing. Furthermore, the conventional
birds showed less perching on enrichment bales as well as fewer positive
'play' and 'exploration' behaviours.

Professor Ruth Newberry and Dr Judit Vas at The Norwegian University of
Life Sciences Faculty of Biosciences point to the importance of including indicators of positive experiences in animal welfare studies. "Until
recently, play was hardly ever mentioned in studies of chickens. We
found that, when you walk through a commercial flock, you just have
to turn around and look behind you to see chickens frolicking in your footsteps. This was especially the case in the slower growing flocks."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bristol. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Ann C. Rayner, Ruth C. Newberry, Judit Vas, Siobhan
Mullan. Slow-growing
broilers are healthier and express more behavioural indicators
of positive welfare. Scientific Reports, 2020; 10 (1) DOI:
10.1038/s41598- 020-72198-x ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/09/200916090526.htm

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