Broiler production and welfare in the county of Södermanland

Abstract: 80 million broilers are reared in Sweden each year and broiler welfare is a worldwide issue. The main aim of this study was to investigate and describe a part of the Swedish broiler production and to analyze the relevant literature to find strengths, weaknesses, identify riskfactors and propose possible solutions. This was done by an extensive review of literature and by on-farm observations made on official animal welfare controls conducted by the County Administrative Board. The main results are that fast-growing hybrids are prone to lameness, disease and unnatural behaviour and the most common remarks on farms from the official animal welfare controls was covering of daylight inlets and poor litter quality. The most common reason for condemnation in Sweden was skin disorders (42 %) and in the county of Södermanland 26 % and 17 % of the foot score sessions resulted in remarks on a high and low level respectively. Conclusions are that the producers are the key factors for a successful production, which is vulnerable and that high biosecurity also is a strength. Risk factors for animal welfare problems include the use of fast growing hybrids. The possible solutions to this are to grant the producer more influence over the production and to switch to slow-growing hybrids. A number of risk factors covering the period from introduction to slaughter were identified.