Organized by EURCAW-Poultry-SFA.

The webinar was held via Teams.

Target audience: Official inspectors from the Competent Authorities of the EU MSs

Attendance through invitation only.

The PDF of the presentation is available here.

The webinar recording is available here. 

Description:

Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing requires assessing the state of consciousness of the animals in order to identify whether the stunning and killing have been properly performed.

This webinar aims to guide the official veterinarian on what behavioural indicators should be assessed in broiler chickens during the stunning procedure by means of carbon dioxide in two phases and mixtures of carbon dioxide associated to inert gases. It pretends to elucidate what behaviours are related to aversion to gas, what are the indicators of loss of consciousness and death as well as to differentiate behaviours that broiler chickens may perform when unconscious and thus, behaviours that are not a welfare issue. It will also offer the opportunity for discussion and doubts resolution.

The aim of the webinar was to:

• Review the main welfare aspects of stunning broiler chickens by exposure to controlled atmosphere
• Discuss the main results of the EURCAW-Poultry-SFA study on the assessment of welfare during the exposure to alternative mixtures to carbon dioxide in two phases in broiler chickens, evaluated in experimental conditions.
• Recommend ABIs and their methods of assessment (where and how to do the assessment, during how much time, how to do the sampling), providing video examples.

The webinar was attended by 86 people (102 registered), from 20 EU Member States:

Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, and Sweden.

Schedule:

10:00-10:10: Introduction EURCAW – A. Velarde

10:10-10:18: Review Stunning of broiler chickens by Controlled Atmosphere Stunning – A. Contreras

10:18-10:38: Technical study Controlled Atmosphere Stunning – S. Rucinque

10:38-10:50: Recommendations – A. Varvaró

10:50-11:00: Sampling – V. Michel

11:00-11:10: Virtual coffee break

11:10-12:00: Discussion

This webinar has been organized within the sub-activity 4.2: Development of course material for specific topics, of the working program 2023-2024.

On 3 May 2023, in Brussels, will take place a high-level conference presenting the results of a two-year European Parliament pilot project on Best practices for transitioning to higher welfare cage-free egg production systems. This pilot project is particularly relevant in the context of the Commission's commitment, in response to the European Citizen's Initiative End the Cage Age' to propose legislation to phase-out the use of cages for laying hens (and other species). The project aimed to help EU producers to convert conventional egg production systems to higher-welfare alternative systems and to guarantee them that they stay in business by providing practical guidance and recommendations on economic aspects. The findings of this project will also be used by the Commission in the current revision of the animal welfare legislation.

To participate in the conference, you need to register by 18 April.  The conference will be web streamed.

Click here to get access to the website where the agenda and registration link are available

If you have any questions, please get in touch with  info@bestpracticehens.eu.

The Centre is celebrating the production of two videos. The first is a presentation video of EURCAW Poultry-SFA which can be found on the website pages "Home" and "About Us" or directly here. The second one is on the assessment of the state of consciousness after waterbath stunning in broiler chickens which can be found on the website page "Stunning" or directly here.

The Centre is celebrating the publication of its fourth scientific paper as a result of the work carried out in Activity 3 in 2021. In this study, we examined the validity of six methods for dust assessment in layer barns. The methods were either developed for the purpose or as a refinement of existing methods. Of the six methods examined, the dust sheet test with a test duration of 2–3 h was found to be the most promising method.

This article named "Validation of methods for assessment of dust levels in layer barns" is available here.

The Centre is celebrating the publication of its third scientific paper as a result of the work carried out in Activity 3 in 2021 and 2022. The technical study aimed at evaluating the prevalence and the inter-observer repeatability of the most valid and feasible animal-based indicators (ABIs) of the state of consciousness after waterbath stunning (WBS) in turkeys before bleeding (tonic seizure, breathing, spontaneous blinking, and vocalization) and during bleeding (wing flapping, breathing, spontaneous swallowing, and head shaking).

This article named "Relevant Indicators of Consciousness after Waterbath Stunning in Turkeys and Stunning Efficiency in Commercial Conditions" is available here.