Comparing methods for catching and crating broiler chicken flocks: A trade-off between animal welfare, ergonomics and economics.

Catching, carrying, and loading of broilers before transport to the slaughterhouse causes stress. In this study three catching methods (two manual (inverted, upright) and one mechanical) were compared using a cost-benefit analysis of animal welfare, ergonomics and economic analysis. Depopulation of approximately 5,000 broilers per catching method per flock (upright vs.

Survey of Flemish Poultry Farmers on How Birds Fit for Transport to the Slaughterhouse Are Selected, Caught, and Crated and Their Opinions Regarding the Pre-Transport Process.

The pre-transport phase induces stress, fear, and injury in poultry, but management choices greatly influence this. Pre-transport practices for spent hens and broilers in Flanders (Belgium) were studied. Poultry farmers (31 of 156 layers and 48 of 203 broiler farmers completed the survey) were surveyed on the selection of unfit chickens, catching and crating, and farmer opinion.

Upright versus inverted catching and crating end-of-lay hens: a trade-off between animal welfare, ergonomic and financial concerns.

This study explores upright versus inverted catching and crating of spent laying hens. Both catching methods were compared using a cost-benefit analysis that focused on animal welfare, ergonomic, and financial considerations. Data were collected on seven commercial farms (one floor system and six aviary systems) during depopulation of approximately 3,000 hens per method per flock.

The Poultry Red Mite, Dermanyssus gallinae, travels far but not frequently, and takes up permanent residence on farms.

Management of Dermanyssus gallinae, a cosmopolitan hematophagous mite responsible for damage in layer poultry farming, is hampered by a lack of knowledge of its spatio-temporal population dynamics. Previous studies have shown that the circulation of this pest between farms is of strictly anthropogenic origin, that a mitochondrial haplogroup has been expanding on European farms since the beginning of the 21 century and that its local population growth may be particularly rapid. To refine our understanding of how D.