Animal welfare has acquired a fundamental role in the management and production of animals in production systems, not only due to regulatory, ethical or customer requirements, but also for production purposes.
Animal welfare has a direct relationship with productivity.
Animal welfare is all the daily practices that are carried out on layers, eggs, chicks and broilers; daily practices as, handling, restrain, broiler breeders and fattening procedures, etc. that we do routinely in every phase of the production chain.
This article addresses the importance, concepts, relevance of audits and commitments of the companies regarding the training of the personnel involved, examining how personnel training contributes to a better quality of life for the animals, and consequently the quality of the final product.
Those countries that do not have specific animal welfare regulations can base their programs on the international recommendations of the OMSA, Chapter 7 of the Terrestrial Code, among other bodies, which serve as essential guidelines in this field.
1. The Concept of Animal Welfare
According to OMSA, animal welfare is defined as “the physical and mental state of an animal in relation to the conditions under which an animal lives and dies”.
Welfare depends not only on immediate physical conditions, such as good fitness, beak conformation, limbs in hatchery chicks, or proper body condition in breeders, among other direct indicators, but also in environmental or external resources.
Key Welfare Indicators are important.
For animal welfare assessment, according to the approach proposed by Mellor, Beausoleil, Dr. Temple Grandin’s wrote a paper entitled in 2022; Practical Application of the Five Domains Animal Welfare Framework for Supply Food Animal Chain Managers, focuses on the “Five Domains”.
The Five Domains model is being increasingly used as a framework for assessing animal welfare on farms, Table 1.
Table 1. Key Welfare Indicators for Broiler Chickens. Source: Practical Application of the Five Domains Animal Welfare Framework for Supply Food Animal Chain Managers, Grandin, 2022.
These domains are: (include positive/negative aspects)
Nutrition: refers to the quality and availability of food.
Physical environment: includes the conditions of space, climate and facilities.
Health: encompasses disease management and access to medical care.
Behavior: assesses the animal’s ability to express its natural behaviors and avoid stress or unnecessary...
