Using conjoint analysis to weight broiler welfare variables based on slaughterhouse data.

The Council of the European Union adopted the welfare directive for broiler chickens in 2007 (Commission of the European Communities, 2007). The directive defines minimum demands and objectives for broiler production ranging from stocking density to welfare. This study found that the level of nonhuman animal welfare can be determined, for example, with welfare indexes that have different weight values for welfare variables.