On 15 June 2021, an initial meeting took place between the projects under the Model and Demonstration Projects (MuD) for Animal Welfare, focusing on ‘Knowledge-Dialogue-Practice’, and the Focus on Animal Welfare network.

In addition to exchanging views on the key content areas of the projects, the aim was to discuss existing areas of overlap and further opportunities for collaboration. All participating projects are funded by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture as part of the Federal Livestock Strategy programme. Alongside gaining insights in various fields of research, the projects are united by the goal of adapting knowledge to practical use in agriculture.

The seven MuD Animal Welfare projects in the poultry sector are divided as follows:

• 2 projects on turkey farming
• 4 projects on broiler chicken farming
• 1 project on rearing pullets and laying hens

Turkeys

The collaborative project #Pute@Praxis focuses on optimising lighting management, housing design, health management and farm-specific feeding to improve animal welfare in the rearing of female turkeys. Housing and management are being optimised to this end in both experimental and commercial houses. The project is also investigating the extent to which these measures can contribute to enabling the rearing of uncropped female turkeys.

The PuLi project – Structuring through Light – also focuses on lighting. Here, lighting/irradiation intensities, the light spectrum and the duration of lighting are being investigated with regard to the health and behaviour of turkeys. The aim is to examine the influence of these factors on pecking behaviour in unclipped turkeys. An animal health app is to be developed to put the findings into practice. This app is intended to support farmers in recording health parameters, animal welfare and the economic viability of the measures.

Broiler chickens

Two projects are focusing on optimising and structuring housing conditions in broiler chicken farming. A key focus of the MaVeTi project – Structuring and Adapted Feeding in Broiler Houses – is on recording animal behaviour, animal health and house climate in conjunction with the use of raised levels. Unlike systems already in use, these feature an additional manure belt. Furthermore, with regard to animal behaviour, the provision of activity areas with various enrichment materials and dust baths is being tested. Additionally, MaVeTi’s research focuses on sex-separated rearing as well as protein-reduced feeding.

In addition to MaVeTi, the project ‘Optimisation of Housing Conditions in Broiler Production’ also focuses on testing raised platforms and various enrichment options to improve animal welfare. Furthermore, the project addresses the topic of gentling. The aim here is to develop a concept that helps broilers react less skittishly in the presence of the animal caretaker. Scratch injuries caused by birds walking over one another are to be reduced using the gentling approach. As a further aspect of optimising the housing environment, research is being conducted into damage-sensor-controlled ventilation, which could contribute to improving the house climate in the future.

As the name suggests, the Digit-Real-Huhn project focuses on the digital management of livestock in broiler chicken farms. The focus is on animal behaviour, the identification of dead animals, the measurement of litter moisture, and the detection of threshold exceedances (e.g. house temperature, humidity, CO₂). In the Digit-Real-Huhn project, measurements and observations are carried out using a rail-guided robot, which is mounted under the barn ceiling to continuously traverse the area of the broiler house and record the relevant parameters. Innovative enrichment measures, such as perching options and sand baths, are also to be evaluated for their suitability using the system.

To date, only a small proportion of broiler farms keep their birds in mobile houses. HüMaMo – Broiler Rearing in Mobile Houses aims to collect and evaluate existing experience and data from commercial farms, and ultimately to disseminate the results through specialist publications, workshops and guidelines. This involves investigating performance parameters, animal behaviour (use of outdoor runs, perching behaviour) and the design of outdoor runs. In addition, the various types of housing and the genetics of broiler chickens will be assessed for their suitability for broiler rearing in mobile housing.

Young and laying hens

The Layer-HACCP project is currently nearing completion. This collaborative project addresses the widespread issue of feather pecking and cannibalism in pullets and laying hens. During the project, the Animal Welfare Advisory Team (HACCP Team) supported a total of 18 organic and conventional commercial farms and advised the farmers on feed optimisation, enrichment management and health management to minimise behavioural disorders and maintain animal health. The aim of Layer-HACCP is to identify critical control points and compile a catalogue of measures to reduce the incidence of feather pecking and cannibalism

Both the Fokus Tierwohl network and the Knowledge-Dialogue-Practice projects run by MuD Tierschutz focus on disseminating information and transferring new findings on more animal-friendly livestock farming into agricultural practice. Through the nationwide participation of chambers of agriculture, state institutes and state agencies, and the diverse formats for knowledge transfer, the Fokus Tierwohl network is able to consolidate and disseminate the knowledge generated by MuD Tierschutz’s projects. To date, there are already several points of contact, such as the participation of project managers in working groups, joint events and planned video shoots. During the networking meeting, potential ideas were developed to ensure the continued success of the collaboration. In future, published results from the MuD Animal Welfare projects will also be available on the Fokus Tierwohl network’s project website. This is primarily intended to offer interested poultry farmers and advisors the opportunity to find out about the latest research findings.