Gina Caplen

This book features five peer-reviewed reviews on ensuring the welfare of broilers.The first chapter considers the range of factors that pose a significant threat to broiler welfare, focussing on the impact of fast-growing broilers and high stocking densities. The chapter reviews how these factors have been addressed within the European Union through the inclusion of two case studies. The second chapter builds on research covered in the first chapter and details the welfare issues that can arise as a result of intensively reared broiler flocks. The chapter discusses the development of leg disorders and lameness, as well as contact dermatitis.The third chapter reviews the major welfare issues related to the management of broiler breeders, including feed and water restriction, excisions and the potential for management strategies to have transgenerational effects.The fourth chapter similarly addresses the welfare issues that can arise in the housing of broiler breeders, but instead focusses on the impact of these factors on increased levels of aggression and consequent aggressive behaviour, such as feather-pecking.The final chapter explores the use of group-level technologies to monitor and automate poultry welfare assessments of broilers, focussing on the use of visual images retained from CCTV and video, as well as sound and temperature sensing.

This collection features four peer-reviewed literature reviews on bone health in poultry.The first chapter reviews the literature on genetic mapping of skeletal traits in both broilers and layers, including both the genetics of skeletal defects and bone quality. As the chapter shows, linkage mapping and genome-wide association studies have identified promising candidate genes with potential for breeding more robust birds.The second chapter focuses on bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO), one of the most common causes of lameness in broilers. The chapter summarizes the pathogenesis of BCO and reviews the efficacy of probiotics as a prophylactic treatment.The third chapter discusses bone health in laying hens. It reviews bone development, keel and other bone health problems and factors contributing to poor bone health. It also summarises key strategies for improving bone health, including breeding, nutrition, rearing practices and housing.The final chapter assesses the problem of lameness in intensively-reared broiler flocks. The chapter also discusses skin health in broilers. It summarises key risk factors as well as ways of monitoring and reducing the problem, from breeding programmes and enrichment to sequential feeding regimes.