Case Study: Comparing the Welfare of Broiler Chickens in Two Intensive Production Systems in Israel

For the purpose of growing chickens for meat (broilers) in Israel, it is common to house them in conventional deep litter. Recently, colony cages were introduced as an alternative housing system and the question of their impact on broiler welfare ensued. In order to evaluate and compare the broilers' welfare in both systems, the Welfare Quality (R) assessment protocol was used. Both systems scored high on almost all measurements. Hock burns were relatively low in both systems but significantly lower in the deep litter system, while plumage cleanliness scored significantly higher in broilers reared in colony cages. Overall, the broilers' welfare in the colony cages was not considerably impaired according to the examined measurements of the assessment protocol, and the pilot study did not find enough evidence to sanction the use of colony cages altogether. However, the authors concluded that these findings were insufficient in determining the overall impact this system has on the broilers' welfare, due to the limited examination of the behaviour of the broilers. Further research to accurately evaluate the systems' impact on broiler welfare is required.