ABSTRACT
Many of the conditions in which poultry live and the procedures to which they are subjected compromise their welfare. This chapter describes these welfare problems in the hope that they may serve as warnings to the rest of animal agriculture, which then might take steps to avoid the same pitfalls. It discusses poultry welfare problems under the headings of battery cages for laying hens, forced molting, disposal of spent laying hens, fast growth problems in meat poultry, catching and transportation, food restriction of broiler breeders, hyperaggressiveness in broiler breeder males, elective surgeries, and water-bath stunning. The chapter describes the poultry welfare problems and how they have arisen and thus erect some warning flags for the rest of animal agriculture. Compared with electrical stunning as it is used in Europe and Canada, gas stunning also gives a better quality product with less damage and bruising and allows for quicker further processing.
