Understanding the Behaviour and Improving the Welfare of Chickens

"Each chapter provides an overview of current knowledge on the topic in question, accompanied by an outline of advances in both scientific and applied fields. The chapters are written by twenty-five authors, all scientific experts in the subject discussed… In conclusion, Understanding the behaviour and improving the welfare of chickens is an expertly written, widely accessible book for all professionals in the field, which should provide increased understanding of chicken behaviour and welfare." (Animal Welfare - Universities Federation for Animal Welfare)

With rising consumer concerns about the welfare of farm animals, such as chickens, there is a growing urgency for the livestock production sector to ensure that welfare standards are met throughout the supply chain, from breeding to slaughter.

Understanding the behaviour and improving the welfare of chickens offers a comprehensive summary on the wealth of recent research completed on understanding chicken behaviour and discusses how best to use this rich body of knowledge to optimise welfare management of broilers and layers. This collection features expert insights into the use of wearable, video and acoustic technologies as a means of monitoring behaviour, as well as improving current welfare protocols.

With its distinguished editor and team of leading experts in their fields, Understanding the behaviour and improving the welfare of chickens will be a standard text for university researchers in poultry and veterinary science as well as ethology. The book will also be an authoritative reference for government and other agencies responsible for the poultry sector and farm animal welfare, as well as companies involved in rearing chickens and processing poultry meat and eggs.

Dr Christine Nicol is Professor of Animal Welfare at the Royal Veterinary College - University of London, UK. Professor Nicol is internationally renowned for her research on poultry and equine welfare, for which she has received many awards, including from the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare (UFAW), the International Society for Applied Ethology (ISAE), the European Association for Animal Production (EAAP), the Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour (ASAB) and the British Veterinary Association (BVA). As well as many high-cited journal articles, Professor Nicol has written or contributed to a number of books and is a current member of the Stevin Prize Committee.