Effects of high stocking density on broiler chicken and turkeys.

Abstract

Abstract Poultry, particularly broilers, have become a barometer for least cost production, and can be purchased in many supermarkets for less money per kg than some fruits and vegetables. This production philosophy places very significant pressure on chicken farmers, and on chickens - one inevitable result of which is to maximize the number of animals which can be farmed in a given space. This is the logic of economics, but is not based on the balance of probabilities that chickens kept at the highest stocking densities have a demonstrably reduced quality of life. What do chickens actually need? - nobody can truly say, but we can probably hazard some pretty good guesses. Chickens are sentient, capable of feeling pain and avoiding sources of stress and distress when they are given a choice. Free range and back yard birds show a large range of adaptive behaviours, but many of these behaviours cannot be expressed in intensive indoor conditions. Society asks a lot of the chicken - we expect it grow very fast (egg to plate in 36 days), to be affordable and available, and yet, most people also hope that the industry behind their chicken dinner will be practically invisible, and will provide good animal welfare. In this review, we focus on the impacts on animal welfare linked with high stocking densities. The European Commission decision to limit stocking density is in conflict with the viewpoint of many producers who want to increase the number of birds housed to improve their profit. In this review, we examine some of the published evidence for stocking density maxima, and discuss the role of pressurization of stocking density resulting from farming based only on price competition.