Abstract
Footpad lesions are an important factor in evaluation of animal welfare in broilers regulated by law; however, no legal requirements have been set for the parent birds. Nevertheless, the present study confirms that foot health in broiler breeders declines significantly with increasing age, thus potentially impairing the animal welfare due to pain and discomfort from footpad dermatitis. Furthermore, this is the first report demonstrating a correlation between the presence of footpad lesions and systemic bacterial infections with Gram-positive cocci in broiler breeder birds.
Highlights
Footpad lesions are an important factor in evaluation of animal welfare in broilers regulated by law; no legal requirements have been set for the parent birds
Introduction, methods, and results In intensive poultry production systems good footpad health is crucial to obtain high levels of animal welfare and high production yields. This link is poorly described in broiler breeders, whereas in the broiler industry this issue has been addressed in the minimal animal welfare regulations applied in the European Union (EU) [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9]
Foot health of broiler breeders is not mentioned in the European Directive on minimum rules for the protection of chickens kept for meat production [9], rendering foot health in broiler breeders in a vacuum where animal welfare is potentially compromised due to pain and discomfort from footpad dermatitis
Summary
Footpad lesions are an important factor in evaluation of animal welfare in broilers regulated by law; no legal requirements have been set for the parent birds. Foot health of broiler breeders is not mentioned in the European Directive on minimum rules for the protection of chickens kept for meat production [9], rendering foot health in broiler breeders in a vacuum where animal welfare is potentially compromised due to pain and discomfort from footpad dermatitis. This may have immediate consequences for affected birds but may pose increased risk for getting a fatal infection due.
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