Commercial poultry production has changed since the 1950s. Genetic selection has resulted in two different types of commercial poultry, meat and egg-laying birds. Production systems for meat birds (chickens, turkeys, and ducks) are similar in their configuration and management, although there are...

Because of increasing public concerns about the close confinement of hens associated with cage housing, the global egg industry is undergoing major changes. Conventional cages, the dominant model for egg production since the 1950s, were banned in the European Union effective 2012. In other...

Animal welfare science is a relatively new field, but has grown rapidly to encompass different disciplines. The large body of published research on farm animal welfare addresses topics ranging from basic biological principles of welfare assessment to applications for evaluating and improving...

This book contains 17 chapters that discuss commercial poultry production systems and their main welfare challenges; the effects of hatchery practices on the welfare of poultry; rearing young birds for adaptability; electrical stunning of poultry; gas and low atmospheric pressure stunning; welfare...

This book contains 13 chapters that discuss cognition as a cause, consequence and component of welfare; genetics and genomics of animal welfare; the philosophical issues of animal ethics; animal welfare and environmental issues; animal welfare and food safety in modern animal production; science in ...

Undoubtedly, hatch day for commercial poultry is a stressful period, and events and procedures that occur on this day can have a significant impact on the welfare of the birds. As we learn more about embryonic development in avian species, we now realize that events leading up to the actual hatch...

The rearing period is critical for behavioral and physiological development of poultry species. After undergoing various multiple procedures at the hatchery, chicks and poults are transported; placed in a novel environment with same-age conspecifics; and must learn to eat, drink, and develop...

This chapter provides a summary of the latest electrical stunning methods for poultry in relation to EU and OIE legislature concerning animal welfare at killing. These are evaluated in relation to animal welfare, effectiveness, efficiency, esthetic consideration of the operator, skill requirements, ...

Proper stunning is critical to obtain the goals of humane slaughter. Concerns with uniformity and adequacy of electrical stunning have produced increasing interest in alternative methods that can improve the stun as well as reduce distress, pain, and suffering for other components of the process...

Poultry are the most common farmed animals on the terrestrial earth. For example, in 2016, around 55 billion chickens were reared for meat - more chickens in 1 year than the estimate for the number of humans who have lived on the planet - ever. The history of chicken intensification has been...