Broiler Chickens is a short practical book of guidelines and advice to good welfare practice in broiler chicken farming. With contributions from world expert researchers in poultry welfare, this book distils academic research into applied advice on the farm for industry and farm workers. The content covered includes health and disease impacts with a One Health focus, housing for optimal health, broiler breeders, hatchery management, broiler slaughter practices, transport, animal welfare assessment measures, and a discussion of welfare improvement measures on the farm.
About the Author: Joy Mench is a professor emeritus at the University of California, Davis (UCD). She received her doctorate in Ethology at the University of Sussex in the UK, carried out postdoctoral research at Cornell University, and was a professor at the University of Maryland, College Park, for 10 years before moving to UCD in 1995. Xavier Manteca Vilanova received his BVSc and doctorate from the Autonomous University of Barcelona and an MSc in Applied Animal Behaviour and Animal Welfare from the University of Edinburgh. Currently, he is professor of animal behaviour and animal welfare at the School of Veterinary Science in Barcelona. Ingrid de Jong studied Animal Sciences at Wageningen University, with a focus on ethology, animal physiology and immunology and obtained her doctorate in animal physiology at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. She is working as a senior scientific researcher at Wageningen Livestock Research, Wageningen University & Research, where she coordinates research projects related to welfare of broilers, broiler breeders and laying hens for the EU, national government, and private companies. Lotta (Charlotte) Berg is a professor in Animal Environment and Health at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, and started her research career at the same university where she received a doctorate based on a thesis focusing on the epidemiology and prevention of management-related diseases of welfare relevance in broilers. She has since been working mainly with poultry and other farm animals, but also with other species. Mohan Raj is a veterinary scientist specialised in farm animal welfare, especially during stunning and slaughter for human consumption and killing during disease outbreaks. He has published over 100 papers as international scientific journal articles, book chapters, reviews, and conference papers and has been an invited speaker at international conferences on animal welfare. He served as a member of the Animal Health and Welfare Penal of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Andy Butterworh was a practitioner in mixed veterinary practice in the UK, and a veterinary researcher at the University of Bristol Vet School. Andy works on animal health, animal welfare, disease and production systems, and consults in the area of practical animal welfare improvement. He helps to write national and international animal welfare standards and is part of the international training businesses AWT and WelfareMax. Andy has been a member of the EFSA Animal Health and Welfare Panel, and is a current member of the Council of Management of the British Poultry Science Journal.