Chicken welfare

The Canadian Agri-Food Research Council has put in place a code of practice that promotes acceptable standards for breeders, the industry and anyone, caring and handling  animals.

The industry has seen a lot of changes in its practices to better look after the interests of animals and their welfare. The Code of Practice attempts to achieve the best balance between animal welfare and industry interests.  There is a fundamental principle that animals that are treated well and protected from stress achieve better physical and mental fitness. While almost all farming systems impose restrictions on animals, some may cause discomfort, distress that prevents animals from meeting their basic needs. In order to ensure that basic needs are respected and met, one must consider :

• Ensure comfort and acceptable and suitable housing for animals;
• Provide easy access to fresh water and food;
• To offer them the possibility to move easily, for the chickens, to be able to scratch and explore the grounds;
• Provide them with the company of other animals, especially of the same species;
• Give them the opportunity to express their normal behaviors of their species;
• Provide them with adequate day and night lighting (darkness at night);
• Provide a floor or flooring that does not injure or unduly disturb animals;
• Prevent and quickly diagnose and treat abnormal behaviors, injuries, parasitic infestations, and diseases (lice, mites, worms);
• Prevent contagious infections by adopting biosecurity measures;
• Avoid unnecessary injuries;
• Provide emergency measures in case of fire, breakdown, unwanted visitors;

All of these practices are guidelines to encourage all those working in the poultry sector to improve their own husbandry methods.

http://www.nfacc.ca/pdfs/codes/poultry_code_FR.pdf

https://www.mapaq.gouv.qc.ca/fr/Publications/Guideapplication_Loi_Bien_etre_animal.pdf

Need to live in a group

The chicken is an animal that lives in a group. A chicken cannot live alone, it needs to live in a group, or will eventually suffer from stress and could even die. You will need at least three or four hens in your chicken coop. When you only have two hens, you expose them to more stress and vulnerability, as well as yourself with many difficult adaptation situations. Sick hens, mortality, predators etc…

Avoid introducing only one hen at a time. Two by two is easier for adaptation.  Avoid keeping a hen alone.

Need to explore, scratch and eat insects

A hen needs to scratch, it’s in her nature. Even if you provide her with grains, she has to scratch and spends a lot of time doing so. She needs to stir the soil, turn it over and dislodge insects and worms. This behaviour allows her to use her claws and keep them in good condition. Grassy areas and available soil are essential. Cement or concrete floors are not suitable for chickens.

It should be allowed to let our chickens out on a fenced area under supervision to allow the hens to express their basic essential needs of exploring and scratching to feed on grasses and insects and to respect animal behaviour and animal welfare. Otherwise, there is no point in having hens as pets because their eggs will not be more nutritious than industrial eggs. The #1 reason for having hens according to all surveys is to have better quality eggs and to experience the pleasure and enjoyment of these pets.

According to PMAF (World Farm Animal Welfare. For chickens, it is the right to explore in freedom. This right is one of the 5 freedoms defined by the FAWC :

• Possibility to express the normal behaviour of the species (behavioural aspects). 

There are no studies that prove that our free-range hens on residential land are neither vectors of disease nor more exposed to disease. Outbreaks almost always occur in industry. All over the world, animal welfare organizations are demanding industries to release free-range chickens on the ground and out on pasture.

https://www.ciwf.com/

http://legisquebec.gouv.qc.ca/fr/ShowDoc/cs/B-3.1

https://fr.worldanimalprotection.ca/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gk7MraBzkBU

http://www.welfarequality.net

Avoid any stress that could cause illnesses.

Overcrowding, overly small, poorly cleaned pens are all stress factors for hens.

Ventilation is very important. There must be at least 2 vents to ensure good air circulation.

The pens below are too small and do not provide enough shade or sandbox. Food and water should be available in the pen. Keeping chickens in these small spaces can lead to aggressive pecking and cannibalism. Also, the roof of the pen should be covered and protected from the weather.