2) Approximately seven million, supplying around 700 million fertile eggs annually. Eighty to 90% of these birds are female.
How are they housed?
How do the parent birds differ from the young broiler chickens we see in
the supermarket?
Can chickens really be 'greedy'?
How has the poultry industry 'solved' the problem of over-eating by parent stock birds?
To what degree is feed restriction practised on female breeders?
How does the female breeder compare in weight with a 'supermarket' female bird?
How severely restricted is the breeding cockerel's feed?
How much is a breeding male allowed to consume when fully grown?
How much would a 'supermarket' cockerel consume?
How do the birds react to feed restriction?
To sum up:
How are broiler breeders' rations given to them?
What happens when the sexes are put together, for breeding?
How often is the rationed feed given?
Which system involves the least suffering?
When is the feed given?
How do the birds react to rationing?
Is physical damage caused by feed restriction?
Are broiler breeders beaktrimmed?
Are broiler breeders mutilated in other ways?
Frequent Matings
Apart from being chronically hungry, aren't the breeders better off than
their offspring, since the parents don't suffer from diseases associated
with obesity?
For how long do they live?
What about catching and slaughter?
What happens to broiler breeders, finally?
3) In the UK breeders are housed intensively, in windowless controlled
environment sheds, usually holding several thousand birds per unit.
4) There are no laws or MAFF codes of recommendations relating to
stocking density for breeders, but they are not so closely stocked as young
broilers.
5) Lighting must be bright enough to encourage laying, therefore it is
impossible to control aggression in males via low lighting regimes. FAWN
has been told of significant aggression among cockerels in breeding units,
including aggression towards stockpeople. FAWN has been informed, by a
reliable source, that some stockpeople feel the need to 'show who is boss'
in ways which could lead to prosecutions for cruelty if their actions were
reported.
6) The birds are kept on litter (wood shavings or chopped straw) and
sheds contain nesting boxes. Some litter is eaten by the hungry birds.
7) The sexes are kept at a ratio of nine birds to one cockerel.
8) Hours of 'daylight' (in fact artificial light) are gradually
increased from eight hours in the early weeks to 16 hours.
9) The supermarket bird*
Putting it simply, the modern broiler chicken has been selectively bred
over the last five decades to consume large amounts of high protein food,
and to put on weight rapidly. This process has been exaggerated by lighting
regimes (to encourage birds to eat throughout the 24 hours) and by adding
growth promoters to feed. The poultry industry has been so successful in
its quest for fast-growing chickens that today's bird can weigh up to four
times that of slower growing strains. (Information on birds' weight from
'Welfare Implications of Food Restriction in Broiler Breeders', Paul
Hocking and John Savory, Roslin Institute Annual Report, 1994/5, p. 42)
* FAWN is using the term 'supermarket bird' to differentiate the young
birds, reared for their meat, from the adult breeders. FAWN does
acknowledge that some birds on sale in supermarkets and elsewhere are from
free range birds of the slower growing kind, but estimates that some 99% of
all commercially-sold chickens are from the type of parent stock described
in this fact sheet.
10) The parent stock/breeders
The parent birds are just as 'greedy' as those slaughtered at 6-7 weeks
(i.e. those that end up on the supermarket shelf etc.) but if fed to
appetite many would die prematurely, from diseases associated with obesity
(e.g. heart failure). Fertility would be dramatically reduced, since
overweight males would have difficulty mounting the females, and females
would suffer from a high incidence of multiple ovulations, and soft shelled
eggs, all useless for hatching purposes.* Joint, bone and feet problems
would also increase. All these conditions combined would result in an
uneconomic breeding stock.
*Hocking, P.M. et al., (1987) 'Ovarian
Follicular Structure of White Leghorns Fed Ad Libitum and Dwarf and Normal
Broiler Breeders Fed Ad Libitum or Restricted Until Point of Lay', British
Poulty Science 28: 493-506
11) The modern broiler chicken is 'greedy', though the bird should not
be blamed! Dr Mench of Maryland's Department of Poultry Science explains
the 'greediness' as follows: 'The selection of broilers for increased
growth rate has resulted in an increase in appetite (Siegel and Wisman,
1966) by modulating both central and peripheral mechanisms of hunger
regulation (Lacy et al., 1985, Denbow 1989). The increased food intake
causes obesity, which must be controlled in broiler parent stock in order
to maintain reproductive competence.' (See fact 1 for full reference.)
12) Both sexes being reared as parent stock are fed on severely
restricted rations for most of their growing period (2-20 weeks,
approximately). Males continue to be fed on severely restricted diets
throughout their lives, females more moderately, since they must produce
eggs.
13) For females, who must produce eggs, the restriction is less severe.
For example, a female breeder will receive 52 g of feed daily* at 7 weeks
of age, while a 'supermarket' female of the same age will consume 182 g of
feed. The amount of feed offered goes up gradually to reach 168 g daily by
week 26-27, and is maintained at this level until slaughter (at around 60
weeks of age).
14) At seven weeks of age a breeder weighs 1.7 lb (780 g) and a
'supermarket' chicken (before processing) weighs around 5.38 lb (2440 g).
15) The female breeder's ultimate weight is around 7.2 lb (3260 g).
When fully-grown, she will be consuming less feed than a 'supermarket'
female chicken of seven weeks.
16) At seven weeks old, a 'supermarket' male broiler (before
processing) weighs 6.39 lb (2897 g) and will consume 205 g feed daily. His
breeding counterpart of the same age will weigh 2.4 lb (1100 g) and consume
78 g of feed daily - a huge reduction on what he would eat if fed ad
libitum.
17) On restricted feed, a mature cockerel weighs around 10 lb (4550 g)
and consumes 120 g of feed daily.
18) Sometimes, in the run-up to Christmas, broiler chickens are 'grown
on' beyond the usual 6 or 7 weeks (the age at which most are slaughtered).
A 'supermarket' male bird weighing 10 lb at 10 weeks of age consumes 253 g
of feed daily.
*Figures in facts 13-18 are based on information published by The Cobb
Breeding Company. Ross Breeders, UK, published performance objectives in
1995 which include the following figures:
Gender
Feed consumption at 7 weeks
g/bird/dayWeight at 7 weeks
Female 53g 760g Male 72g 1100g
19) 'These rations are usually provided daily from the second week of
life onwards, according to programmes recommended by the commercial
breeders, and amount to a reduction in consumption of some 55-75% compared
with birds of the same age fed ad libitum (Katanbaf et al., 1989; P.
Hocking and J. Savory, unpublished data, 1991). In contrast to ad libitum
feeding, birds that are fed on such rations tend to be very active, and
many of them spend much of their time pecking in a stereotyped manner at
various non-feed objects (in the absence of food - Ed.), such as drinkers
or pen walls.' (Kostal, Lubor et al., (1992) 'Diurnal and Individual
Variation in Behaviour of Restricted-fed Broiler Breeders', Applied Animal
Behaviour Science, 32: 361-374)
20) 'Breeders are (therefore) fed only sufficient during rearing to
reach about 50% of their potential body weight.' (Poultry Production
Systems, Appleby, Hughes and Elson, CAB 1992, p. 162)
NB Eventually,
breeding chickens achieve roughly two thirds of their potential bodyweight.
21) Up to 20 weeks of age (approximately) the birds are generally
reared separately. This makes it easier for the farmer/company to
administer the approved amount of feed to males and females. At this stage
there are two methods for distributing the feed - either it may be
scattered (in pellet form) on the shed floor, or fed in troughs. The first
method is preferable, as it encourages birds to scratch around in the
litter, thus keeping it in good condition. It also makes the birds' life
more interesting, since feed will take longer to find, and aggression
connected with competition at the feed troughs is minimised.
22) At this stage (around 20 weeks) although the birds are together,
their feed is usually separate. 'As the potential growth rate of the breed
improves with each new generation, it is even more important to control the
bodyweight of the parent stock . The basic principle of separate sex
feeding is to exclude the males from the female feed track and provide a
separate male feeding system. The normal method of exclusion is a grill
placed on top of the track which controls access by the horizontal distance
between the bars.' (Cobb 500 Breeder Management Guide, p. 13)
Whatever method is used, the principle is to make access to the females' feed too
narrow for the males' (bigger) heads. The males' feed is suspended out of
reach of the females.
23) There are three main feeding systems/programmes for broiler breeders:
Daily feeding
24) In the UK the law states that livestock must be fed every day. The
1994 Welfare of Livestock Regulations (Schedule 4, Part 1, para. 5) state:
'Livestock shall be provided with an adequate supply of fresh drinking
water each day and shall have access to food each day, except where a
veterinary surgeon acting in the exercise of his profession otherwise
directs.'
A spokesperson for the UK Ministry of Agriculture has informed
FAWN that MAFF does not know whether the Schedule's requirements apply in
other EU countries. Skip-a-day programmes (see following fact) are
practised widely in the USA and probably in many countries worldwide,
perhaps including members of the EU, hopefully with the exception of the
UK.
Skip-a-day feeding
25) Feed is given every other day. No feed is given on the 'skip' days.
Five days/week feeding
26) The Cobb Breeding Company describes this as a 'compromise' between
everyday feeding (which it recommends) and skip-a-day feeding. The system
involves omitting all feed on two days out of every seven. A spokesman for
the Cobb Breeding Company explained to FAWN that in suggesting the five
days/week programme, the company is trying to encourage farmers in the
direction of daily feeding. Ross Breeders state: 'Every day feeding is
preferred whenever volume permits'. This company also describes systems
which omit 'complete feed' on one or two days a week but include a scratch
feed on the 'no feed' days.
Why skip-a-day?
27) Broiler breeders' rations are so restricted that birds are
extremely hungry for long periods. In units without sufficient feeder space
it was found that some birds rushed to feeders and, in the overcrowded
conditions, consumed more than their 'fair share', leaving others truly
starving. One 'solution' to this problem is to give twice the birds' daily
ration every other day, on the assumption that during the time taken to eat
'double rations' all birds will have the chance to get enough to eat to
ensure survival.
28) FAWN believes that the severe feed restriction practised throughout
the industry, for boiler breeders, is unacceptable in welfare terms, but
clearly skip-a-day and five days/week programmes represent the worst
options. Stress, from chronic hunger, is clearly present in all three
systems: 'Broiler breeders are reared on feed restriction from about two to
18 weeks to avoid them becoming too fat for laying. They are therefore
under considerable stress, especially at about 12 weeks of age.' (Mark
Pattison, MRCVS, writing in Poultry Practice, Ed. Edward Boden, Bailliere
Tindall, 1993, p. 12)
29) Usually in the early morning - birds finish their daily ration
within 10-15 minutes. (Information on time taken to 'eat up' from Roslin
Institute 1994/5 Report - see fact 9).
30) 'Despite its positive influence on health and reproduction, there
is mounting evidence that food restriction has a negative effect on
welfare. Fowls normally spend a considerable portion of their day in
activities associated with foraging, and when given a choice prefer to work
for at least part of their daily intake of food rather than eating it all
from a free supply. (Duncan and Hughes, 1972) Food restricted broiler
breeders, however, consume their food ration in a very brief period of
time. (Kostal et al., 1992) They may also be chronically hungry, since
their level of motivation to consume food is approximately four times that
of ad libitum-fed birds subjected to 27 hours of food withdrawal. (Savory
et al., 1993). Food restricted broiler breeders show behaviour which is
indicative of frustration of feeding motivation. (Duncan and Wood-Gush,
1971, 1972) Restricted males are more aggressive than fully-fed males
(Mench, 1988; Shea et al., 1990, Mench et al., 1991), while restricted hens
and pullets are more fearful and active and also display high rates of
pecking stereotypes (van Niekerk et al., 1988; Savory et al., 1992).
Overdrinking is also a common problem in broiler breeder flocks (Kostal et
al., 1992), resulting in the need to restrict water intake as well as food
intake in order to maintain litter quality.' (See fact 1 for reference.)
NB Overdrinking occurs when birds are chronically hungry, by way of
compensation. (It is illegal to withhold feed for one day on UK farms, but
establishments carrying out research on farm livestock are not answerable
to farm animals legislation, but operate under Home Office Regulations.) A
behavioural change brought about by hunger is highlighted by Ross Breeders:
'It is unlikely that male body weight can be maintained on less than
125g/bird/day. If less feed than this is allocated to the male feeder then
the males will take feed from the female feeder to maintain an adequate
intake or, if excluded from the female feeder, will begin to lose weight.
Males stealing female feed . can significantly reduce egg numbers .' (Ross
308 Manual, p. 31)
Two points emerge from this: a) hungry males may damage
their heads, in attempts to get through narrow grids (see fact 22) and b)
cockerel behaviour has been grossly degraded by modern commercial
conditions, as anyone who has witnessed cockerels' normal behaviour* will
agree. *Under natural conditions cockerels will seek out food for female
birds, drawing their attention to desirable titbits, and standing back to
allow the hens to eat first. A spokesperson for the Cobb Breeding Company
informed FAWN that cockerels' 'gentlemanly' behaviour can still be observed
in breeding sheds.
31) Broiler breeders are culled when around sixty weeks of age, so
long-term effects of severe feed restriction may not be known. Injuries may
be caused, indirectly, by the birds' hungry state: '(Staphylococcal
arthritis) is caused by Staphylococcus aureus which invades the tissue or
blood stream, following injury to the skin, especially the feet. Any
environmental factor which may result in skin injury e.g. sharp
projections, wood splinters in litter, or birds suffering injury when
rushing to the feeders where feed restriction is practised (in broiler
breeders particularly) will result in an increased incidence of this
condition.' (G.S. Coutts, BVMS MRCVS, Poultry Diseases Under Modern
Management, p. 53, Nimrod Press Ltd, 1987)
32) 'At this time (twelve weeks of age) staphylococcal infection of the
hock joint is an important condition (in broiler breeders) and can cause
loss through culling. Treatment with broad spectrum antibiotics is
sometimes effective, but must be started early and continued for two or
three weeks. This hock condition can be almost eliminated by floor feeding
without a trough (Dutchman type) feeder, on which birds appear to damage
themselves. Traumatic injury, often not visible, seems to set off the
staphylococcal infection.'(Mark Pattison, MRCVS - see fact 28 for
reference.)
33) Poor feed trough design can result in severe damage to female
broilers' heads. 'In broiler breeding flocks, separate sex feeding is being
widely adopted as a means of controlling bodyweight gain in male birds with
the objective of improving fertility. In breeding pens, grids fitted to the
feeding trough allow females to feed, but males, which have wider heads,
cannot gain access. (See fact 22 - Ed.) . From 45 weeks of age, a
proportion of female birds were observed to have swollen heads, but only in
that group fed from troughs fitted with grids. At 60 weeks of age,
approximately 15 per cent of birds from that group were affected . In this
flock, the head swelling was judged to be of traumatic origin and a
consequence of fitting grids of incorrect size to feeding troughs.' (S.R.I.
Duff et al., Head Swelling of Traumatic Origin in Broiler Breeding Fowl,
Veterinary Record, August 5th 1989).
NB Before this research, Swollen Head
Syndrome, a viral disease, had often been confused with the damage caused
by too-narrow grids. A photograph accompanying the VR article shows a bird
with severe facial/head swelling and closed eyes. A leading UK broiler
breeding company has assured FAWN that 'lessons have been learned' and grid
dimensions improved, but it must be a cause for concern that, worldwide,
badly-designed troughs may still be in use, causing horrific suffering.
Bearing in mind the date of the VR article (1989) it seems likely that
'old-style' equipment may not have been replaced in many broiler breeding
units, where troughs, etc. might be expected to have a life of a decade or
two.
34) Clearly, much suffering has been/is being caused to broiler
breeders through trough feeding of scant rations. Floor scattering of
pelleted food is much more humane, but does not answer the demands of
single sex feeding, which is usually considered necessary once the sexes
are put together in the same building.
35) A major breeding company recommends beak trimming at a day-old or
at 4-5 days old should this mutilation be deemed necessary because of past
problems (head damage etc). 'Beak trimming of both males and females is not
recommended unless there has been a history of physical damage or when it
is clear that more suffering would be caused in the flock if it were not
carried out, (e.g. mating behaviour can sometimes be the cause of damage
which may result in subsequent infection particularly to the head)'.
(Ross Breeders, Ross 308 Manual, September 1995, p. 10)
NB The chick and adult chicken depicted on the manual's cover are both beaktrimmed/debeaked. The terms 'beaktrimming', 'debeaking' and 'partial beak amputation (PBA)' all
describe the process of removing a proportion of the bird's beak, to
minimise damage from aggression.
36) Male broiler breeders are despurred: 'To avoid injury to hens
during mating, the last joint of the inside toes of male breeding birds may
be removed. This must be done within the first 72 hours of life. A
veterinary surgeon must carry out the operation if it is performed after
the first 72 days of life.' (Codes of Recommendations for the Welfare of
Livestock, issued by MAFF, and the Secretaries of State for Scotland and
Wales, dated 1987, para. 51)
37) 'Acute necrotic enteritis* was diagnosed by Dumfries (State
Veterinary Centre - Ed.) in six -week-old broiler breeder cockerels which
were recovering from an earlier episode of staphylococcal femoral
necrosis** associated with despurring.' (Veterinary Record, October 22nd
1994, p. 395)
*'A disease of domestic fowls . caused by the proliferation and toxin
production of Clostridium perfringens type C in the small intestine.'
** 'Femoral - of or relating to the thigh or to the femur.' (Oxford Concise
Veterinary Dictionary)
38) 'Optimum mating' by males can be judged by the vent colour - bright
red indicates the most 'keen' (and therefore profitable) birds. Cockerels
displaying paler vents are removed from the flock, and culled, on a regular
basis. Overmating of females can cause severe feather loss, resulting in
scratched and torn skin.
39) 'Male breeders may still experience chronic orthopaedic problems
which can cause pain.' (See fact 1 for reference.)
In addition to
orthopaedic (hip and leg etc.) problems, broiler breeders also suffer from
many of the viral diseases common in young chickens and respiratory
diseases.
40) Most broiler breeders are slaughtered when about sixty weeks old,
once past their peak of reproductive powers.
41) 'Males are heavy (up to 10 lb - Ed.) aggressive and very active,
making them extremely difficult (and tiring) to catch . Orthopaedic
problems can make shackling difficult and probably painful.' (See fact 1
for reference.)
Animal Aid has produced a video entitled 'Here's the Catch'
which reveals the horrific cruelty meted out to young broilers at the time
of catching. Heavier birds (breeders) are likely to suffer even more at
this time, as catchers carry birds by one leg (and more than one in each
hand - 4-5 in each hand is routine when collecting younger birds). NB
'Here's the Catch' is available from Animal Aid and FAWN.
42) Slaughter represents another area of suffering, since the
conditions outlined in this fact sheet will ensure that acute pain is felt
by many birds as they hang in shackles, awaiting slaughter.
43) They are processed into pies, canned soups etc.
Has there been an enquiry into the welfare of broiler breeders, in the UK?
44) The House of Commons' Agriculture Committee's second Report into
the UK poultry industry makes no mention of the broiler industry's breeding
stock under its Welfare Recommendations (p. xxxvi-xxxvii). (The UK Poultry
Industry, Vol 1, ISBN 0 10 295594 8, HMSO #10.00)
45) The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC), the government appointed
body which reports on farm animal welfare, has investigated the broiler
industry. Its Report on the Welfare of Broiler Chickens (April 1992) omits
mention of the breeding stock, since the Council felt the problems
associated with parent birds are so distinct from those found in younger
birds. (However, in its January 1992 Report on the Welfare of Turkeys, the
parent stock are included.) At the time of writing, FAWC is not engaged in
investigations regarding the welfare of broiler breeders.
Index
