Assessing small flock poultry welfare includes ensuring height-appropriate access to resources

Several continuing education sessions at AVMA Convention 2025 focused on animal welfare, including the veterinarian's role in livestock production.

Dr. Rocio Crespo, a professor of poultry health management at North Carolina State University (NCSU) College of Veterinary Medicine, presented "Welfare Considerations and Assessment in Small Poultry Flocks," on July 21 at the convention, held in conjunction with the 40th World Veterinary Association Congress, in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Crespo addressed specific ways to assess and improve poultry welfare in small flocks such as types of feed to nesting arrangements and bowl placement, noting that-unlike for many larger commercial facilities-there may not be supply chain-required audits for "backyard flocks."

"We, as veterinarians, can be the auditors," Dr. Crespo said. "We can say, 'Focus on certain areas,'" and hopefully, through the years, they can improve those areas.

She referred to the AVMA's animal welfare policy on laying hen housing systems, which states they "must provide feed, water, light, air quality, space, and sanitation that promote good health and welfare for the hens." Further, housing systems should also "provide for expression of important natural behaviors, protect the hens from disease, injury and predation, and promote food safety," and "participation in a nationally recognized, third-party-audited welfare program is strongly advised."

Dr. Crespo also discussed the Five Freedoms: freedom from thirst, hunger, and malnutrition; from discomfort; from pain, injury, and disease; from fear and distress; and to express normal behavior. And compared that with the Five Domains Model, a more recent framework for assessing animal welfare that focuses on creating opportunities for positive experiences in addition to mitigating negative ones across nutrition, environment, health, behavior, and mental state.

Dr. Crespo, who launched the NCSU veterinary college's ambulatory poultry clinic in 2019, provided specific examples, such as a higher incidence of pododermatitis in small poultry houses that have narrow sleeping roosts or perches.

With poultry, Dr. Crespo stressed the importance of ensuring that birds have easy access to key resources like feeders, drinkers, perches, and roosts.

During her presentation, she recommended some practical tips to improve small flock poultry welfare:

• Easy access to quality feed that is not contaminated by mold, pests, or feces
• Feeder height level with the shoulder of the shortest bird
• Ready access to clean water at an appropriate height-either under the chin for troughs or above the comb for nipple waterers
• Appropriate level of privacy across nesting arrangements for breeding hens
• Protected shelter from the elements with good ventilation

Nest sizes should change as chicks grow, she said, giving the analogy of bed sizes from childhood to adulthood: from a crib to a twin to a double then a queen or king bed.

Dr. Crespo noted some owners may make their own feed or give kitchen scraps, and emphasized the importance of proper nutrition, noting fatty liver hemorrhagic syndrome and obesity are common causes of death in small flock poultry.

"The high frequency of metabolic and nutritional conditions present in small flocks are concerning, because it indicates a general lack of knowledge among owners about proper poultry nutrition," she said. "Veterinarians should counsel owners on proper feeding of their birds, in order to maintain optimal body condition."

She urged focusing on one area to improve each time and educating small flock producers on welfare standards.

"We have to measure it, not just a gut feeling-but don't try to achieve everything at once," Dr. Crespo said. "Welfare needs to be assessed regularly."