Add_AVINED onbehandelde hanen

As of January 1, 2019, there is a ban on beak treatments of parent stock of regular broiler chickens. Females and males of slower growing chicks  have been granted a five-year reprieve from the beak treatment ban. The rear toe of males will in principle be banned from January 1, 2023. So far, only a few flocks with unbeaked males or with completely untreated males have been set up in the practice. In general, not treating the toes of males is seen as a risk to the welfare of the females. When mating, the males can damage the plumage and skin, potentially leading to serious injuries and increased shedding. As a result, the females may take shelter in the nests and the technical results may be adversely affected. Monitoring of the practice flocks showed that the mortality rate due to flank injuries was significantly higher in the flock of regular parents with untreated males than in the control flock. This was mainly due to a high dropout rate between 27 and 37 weeks of age due to flank injuries. In the parents of slower growing broilers, no higher failure rates due to flank injuries were observed in the untreated flock vs. the control flock, and no more skin lesions were observed in the house. However, approximately 3% more scratches were observed in the untreated flock at the slaughter line compared to the control flock.
The aim of this project is to monitor four flocks of untreated (toes and beaks) males from regular and slower growing broiler breeders on farms in order to get more insight of the possible effects of not treating the toes and beaks on the welfare of the chickens.