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The role of behaviour in the assessment of poultry welfare

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2007

Marian Stamp Dawkins
Marian Stamp Dawkins
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
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Abstract

The problem of assessing welfare in poultry has been exacerbated by three widespread but erroneous assumptions. These are (1) that there are general indicators of welfare that apply to all situations, (2) that indicators of good welfare and those of reduced welfare are distinct from one another and (3) that any change in a welfare ‘indicator’ reflects a change in the welfare state of the animal. These three assumptions are challenged and replaced with a more evolutionary view of the behavioural and physiological responses of the domestic fowl to its environment. Apart from physical health, which is the Cornerstone of all good welfare, the most important additional component of poultry welfare is psychological health or ‘contentment’, which can be most reliably accessed through the birds' own choice behaviour.

Keywords

Poultryanimal welfarechoice testswelfare indicators
Type
Research Article
Information
World's Poultry Science Journal , Volume 55 , Issue 3 , September 1999 , pp. 295 - 303
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

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