02 February 2024
The Centre is celebrating the publication of its fifth scientific paper as a...
news list
Evaluation of the protection of the welfare of laying hens in Germany
Published on
20/09/2022
Last September 14th, the final report of an audit of Germany in order to evaluate the protection of the welfare of laying hens at all stages of production was uploaded online. This audit was carried out from 21st, September to 1st, October 2021.
The objective was to assess the effectiveness of official controls to ensure the protection of the welfare of laying hens at all stages of production. The conclusions indicate, for example, that the welfare of laying hens is a priority to...
EURCAW-Poultry-SFA's second scientific article
Published on
21/07/2022
The Centre is celebrating the publication of its second scientific paper as a result of the work carried out in Activity 3 in 2020 and 2021. This study aimed at investigating the pertinence of different animal-based indicators (ABIs) for the assessment of broiler’s state of consciousness after waterbath stunning (WBS) before and during bleeding.
This article named "Inter-Observer Repeatability of Indicators of Consciousness after Waterbath Stunning in Broiler Chickens...
Visit of the Italian Reference Centres for Animal Welfare
Published on
04/05/2022
On 31 March 2022, the coordinator and deputy coordinator met with the Italian Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (CReNBA). Both EURCAW-Poultry-SFA and CReNBA presented their teams, past, present, and future activities. The Classyfarm System was detailed and possible training and best practices collaboration were discussed.
EURCAW-Poultry-SFA's first scientific article
Published on
03/03/2022
At the beginning of this year, the Centre is celebrating the publication of its first scientific paper as a result of the work carried out in Activity 3 in 2020. This study assessed the impacts of elevated platforms and straw bales on the welfare of fast-growing broilers reared at two different stocking densities.
This article named "Positive Effects of Elevated Platforms and Straw Bales on the Welfare of Fast-Growing Broiler Chickens Reared at Two Different Stocking...
Visit of the Finnish and Swedish Reference Centres for Animal Welfare
Published on
07/12/2021
The coordinator and deputy coordinator of EURCAW-Poultry-SFA took the opportunity to meet with Finnish and Swedish Reference Centres for animal welfare.
The Finnish Centre was represented by Satu Raussi & Tiina Kauppinen, and the Swedish Centre by Lotta berg & Birgitta Staaf-Larsson. During these meetings, respective roles of the national and EU Reference Centres were explained and possible collaborations were identified, among which welfare assessment indicators...
Webinar “Poultry welfare and management” of WPSA (World Poultry Science Association)
Published on
07/12/2021
In the context of the postponement of the World Poultry Conference in 2022 this webinar was the opportunity to present some works related to poultry welfare which were initially foreseen to be presented in 2020. Six oral presentations were given on topics such as adaptability of poultry genotypes to organic rearing, disturbance in broiler chicken, comparison between slow-growing broiler genotypes, blunting of the beak as an alternative to beak trimming in layers, exploration, and neophobia...
Visit of the Greek Reference Centre for Animal Welfare
Published on
07/12/2021
At the occasion of the annual meeting of the working group IX “Poultry welfare and management” of WPSA (World Poultry Science Association) that was held in Thessaloniki (Greece), some members of the Centre took the opportunity to meet with local welfare researchers.
This visit was the opportunity to organize a meeting with the Greek Reference Centre for animal welfare, represented by Dr. Evengelina Sossidou. During this meeting, respective roles of the national and EU references...
Webinar: Assessment of consciousness after waterbath stunning of broiler chicken
Published on
03/12/2021
Organized by EURCAW-Poultry-SFA.
The webinar was held via Teams.
Target audience: Official inspectors from the Competent Authorities of the EU MSs
Attendance through invitation only.
The PDF of the presentation is available here.
The webinar recording is available here.
Description:
Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing requires assessing the state of consciousness of the...
European Commission designates a third European Union Reference Centre
Published on
20/08/2021
In May 2021, the European Commission designated a third EU Reference Centre for animal welfare, focusing on the welfare of ruminants and equines (Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2021/755). The tasks of the third centre (EURCAW Ruminants & Equines) include supporting the European Commission and the Member States in the application of animal welfare requirements for ruminants and equines, carrying out scientific and technical studies, as well as conducting training courses and...
Males chicks culling banishement in France and Germany from 2022
Published on
10/08/2021
Every year, hundreds of millions of male day-old layer chicks are killed after hatching in European Union. Male layer chicks are commercially useless for the eggs industry because they are not suitable for meat production and only females can lay. This unethical practice will be forbidden in France and Germany from 2022, both being the first countries in the world to ban it.
To avoid male day-old chicks culling, hatcheries need to be equipped...