Measuring and Auditing Broiler Welfare

In response to concerns about animal welfare, food assurance schemes are now incorporating standards for animal welfare. This is particularly important in the poultry industry, where much attention has focused on the welfare of broilers (meat birds). However, there is as a result a greater need for scientifically-based methods for the measurement and auditing of welfare.This book brings together papers by international experts from the academic, professional and industrial sectors. It examines practical ways of measuring and auditing broiler welfare on-farm, during transit and pre-slaughter. Related marketing issues and future developments such as automation, are also discussed.

Dr Andy Butterworth MRCVS is Reader in Animal Science and Policy in the Clinical Veterinary School, University of Bristol, UK. Andy teaches and carries out research in the areas of animal disease and production, animal welfare and legislation, behavioural biology, and animal welfare assessment in both farm and wild animals. He is a member of the European Food Standards Agency Scientific Panel on Animal health and Welfare, and chairs the EEER (Ethics, Economics, Education and Regulation) of the Farm Animal Welfare committee in the UK. He is editor in Chief of Elsevier's journal Veterinary and Animal Science, he lectures widely and publishes in books, and the academic and trade press, with over 200 publications to date.