“When our youngsters aren’t feeling effectively, I make slightly ‘remedy sheet,’ detailing once they obtain treatment, how a lot they’re given, and so forth. The identical goes for our birds,” stated Rachel Rhodes, a hen farmer in Maryland. “When our birds aren’t feeling effectively, we rigorously monitor in the event that they’re given a probiotic and the way a lot they’re given, the quantity of water they drink, and in the event that they’re not as lively. The well being of our birds is simply as essential because the well being of our youngsters, as a result of our birds are identical to our youngsters.”
The Rhodes household considers focusing 100% on the well being and wellbeing of their birds their prime precedence as farmers, with the top aim of offering wholesome, reasonably priced meals to shoppers. However the Rhodes household is much from alone at placing hen well being and welfare first – the business wouldn’t exist in any other case.
Although animal well being and welfare begins on the farm, the hen business considerably invests in innovation to maintain bettering animal husbandry. Most of all, the U.S. hen business has established moral ideas to make sure all birds are handled with respect, from the hatchery to the processing plant. The Nationwide Hen Council (NCC) developed the NCC Animal Welfare Tips and Audit Guidelines based mostly upon the experience of the World Group for Animal Well being. Good animal welfare constitutes chickens being wholesome, comfy, well-nourished, secure and never affected by ache, worry or misery, together with important tips.