Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-x5gtn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-14T20:12:14.262Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The role of behaviour in the assessment of poultry welfare

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2007

Marian Stamp Dawkins
Marian Stamp Dawkins
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK
Get access

Abstract

The problem of assessing welfare in poultry has been exacerbated by three widespread but erroneous assumptions. These are (1) that there are general indicators of welfare that apply to all situations, (2) that indicators of good welfare and those of reduced welfare are distinct from one another and (3) that any change in a welfare ‘indicator’ reflects a change in the welfare state of the animal. These three assumptions are challenged and replaced with a more evolutionary view of the behavioural and physiological responses of the domestic fowl to its environment. Apart from physical health, which is the Cornerstone of all good welfare, the most important additional component of poultry welfare is psychological health or ‘contentment’, which can be most reliably accessed through the birds' own choice behaviour.

Keywords

Poultryanimal welfarechoice testswelfare indicators
Type
Research Article
Information
World's Poultry Science Journal , Volume 55 , Issue 3 , September 1999 , pp. 295 - 303
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Appleby, M.C. and Hughes, B.O. (1997) Animal Welfare, CAB International, WallingfordGoogle Scholar
Barnett, J.L. and Hemsworth, P.H. (1990) The validity of physiological and behavioural measures of animal welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 25: 177–187Google Scholar
Broom, D.M. and Johnson, K.G. (1993) Stress and Animal Welfare, Chapman & Hall, LondonCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cacioppo, J.T., Klein, D.J., Berntson, G.C. and Hatfield, E. (1993) The psychophysiology of emotion. In: Handbook of Emotions (Lewis, M. and Hatfield, J.M., Eds), Guilford, New York, pp. 119–142Google Scholar
Dawkins, M.S. (1980) Animal Suffering: The Science of Animal Welfare, Chapman & Hall, LondonCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawkins, M.S. (1990) From an animal's point of view: motivation, fitness and animal welfare. Behavioral and Brain Sciences 13: 1–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawkins, M.S. (1998) Evolution and animal welfare. Quarterly Review of Biology 73: 305–328CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duncan, I.J.H. (1993) Welfare is to do with what animals feel. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 6(Suppl 2): 8–14Google Scholar
Duncan, I.J.H. and Hughes, B.O. (1988) Can the welfare of poultry be measured? In: Science and The Poultry Industry (Hardcastle, J., Ed.), AFRC, Swindon, pp. 24–25Google Scholar
Folstad, I. and Karter, A.J. (1992) Parasites, bright males, and the immunocompetence handicap. The American Naturalist 139: 603–622CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, D. (1995) Science, values and animal welfare: exploring the ‘inextricable connection’. Animal Welfare 4: 103–117CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, D. and Matthews, L.R. (1997) Preference and motivational testing. In: Animal Welfare (Appleby, M.C. and Hughes, B.O., Eds), CAB International, Wallingford, pp. 153–173Google Scholar
Freeman, B.M. (1985) Stress and the domestic fowl: physiological fact or fantasy? World's Poultry Science Journal 52: 131–174Google Scholar
Frijda, N.H. (1986) The Emotions, Cambridge University Press, CambridgeGoogle Scholar
Jones, R.B. (1996) Fear and adaptability in poultry: insights, implications and imperatives. World's Poultry Science Journal 52: 131–174CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, G. and Mendl, M. (1993) Why is there no simple way of measuring animal welfare? Animal Welfare 2: 301–320CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mccruden, A.B. and Stimson, W.H. (1991) Sex hormones and immune function. In: Psychoneuroimmunology (Ader, R., Felten, D.L. and Cohen, N., Eds), 2nd edition, Academic Press, New York, pp. 275–294Google Scholar
Mendl, M. (1991) Some problems with the concept of a cut-off point for determining whenan animal's welfare is at risk. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 31: 139–146CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nesse, R. and Williams, G.C. (1995) Evolution and Healing. The New Science of Darwinian Medicine, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, LondonGoogle Scholar
Oatley, K. and Jenkins, J.M. (1996) Understanding Emotions, Blackwells, OxfordGoogle Scholar
Petherick, J.C. and Rutter, S.M. (1990) Quantifying motivation using a computer-controlled push door. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 27: 159–167Google Scholar
Rushen, J. (1991) Problems associated with the interpretation of physiological data in the assessment of animal welfare. Applied Animal Bahaviour Science 28: 381–386CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sapolsky, R.M. (1994) Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: A Guide to Stress and Stress-Related Diseases, W.H. Freeman, New yorkGoogle Scholar
Sherry, D.F., Mrosovsky, N. and Hogan, J.A. (1980) Weight loss and anorexia during incubation in birds. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology 94: 89–98CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Toates, F. (1995) Stress: Conceptual and Biological Aspects, John Wiley, New YorkGoogle Scholar
Wingfield, J.C., Hunt, K., Breuner, C., Dunlap, K., Fowler, G.S., Freed, L. and Lepson, J. (1997) Environmental stress, field endocrinology and conservation biology. In: Behavioral Approaches to Conservation in the Wild (Clemmons, J.R. and Buchholz, R., Eds), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 95–131Google Scholar