Chicken is the most popular meat consumed by Australians – on average, Australians eat 47 kg of chicken each year. This high demand coupled with a consumer expectation of low prices, leads to the production of genetically selected breeds of meat chicken, chosen for their ability to grow to large…
Access to adequate light and periods of darkness are necessary for meat chicken welfare, as they encourage natural behaviours including appropriate physical activity and rest. In conventional commercial systems, meat chickens can be housed in tunnel-ventilated sheds without access to an outdoor area, and usually don’t have access to natural…
For meat chickens to experience good welfare, it’s important that their environment is stimulating and enriching, and allows them to exhibit their natural behaviours. These behaviours include perching, dust bathing, foraging, ground scratching, and stretching and flapping their wings. Having access to environments that allow meat chickens to display natural…
Chickens in the meat industry are sometimes required to be euthanased on-farm if they are weak, sick, injured or unable to walk and will not recover with treatment. As with all euthanasia of animals, it is important that the method used is humane, meaning the method chosen either kills the…
All animals need to have enough space to carry out their normal behaviours, and to be physically healthy. When it comes to meat chickens, it’s important that birds have enough room to exercise, explore, peck, dust bathe, forage, and rest. Generally, with all else being equal, the higher the stocking…
Breeder birds in the meat chicken industry lay the eggs that will hatch into chickens grown for meat. There are currently two main commercial meat chicken breeds in Australia, both of which have been selectively bred to grow to large sizes quickly. This genetic selection has led to animal welfare…
Meat chickens, even those that are provided with access to an outdoor range area, will spend the majority of their time indoors and in contact with the litter. Bedding, in the form of sawdust, wood shavings, finely cut straw or rice hulls, is spread over the floor of the shed…
Chickens are sociable, quirky and inquisitive creatures. Descended from jungle fowl, they still possess instincts strongly aligned with seeking shelter in vegetation and roosting up high at night to keep away from predators. Meat chickens, also called broiler chickens, are those that are grown for their meat, as opposed to…
The export of any animals for slaughter has serious welfare problems — some relate to transport conditions resulting in stress, disease, injury and death and others relate to a lack of control over what happens to animals in importing countries. These risks are especially high for horses and donkeys. Exported…
The majority of food animals destined for slaughter overseas are first mustered on their property of origin, then loaded onto livestock trucks, transported to a feedlot or assembly depot, loaded once again onto trucks, transported to the wharf, and loaded onto the ship. Live export sea voyages may last up…