Animal Welfare Certification for Broiler Chickens

One of the most consumed meats worldwide, chicken has gained this status due to its nutritional quality, as well as its versatility in preparation and consumption. The rapid production cycle and high yield characterize the dynamism of industrial poultry farming and the economic accessibility of this type of meat compared to that of other species.

However, despite being an intense and productive activity, the poultry production sector faces constant challenges, especially regarding bird welfare. This involves everything from daily management, which requires skilled professionals and regular analysis of indicators such as mortality rate, growth, feed conversion, and injury incidence, to the moment of slaughter, where knowledge of the birds’ signs of consciousness as well as the functionality of the stunning equipment is essential.

Thus, good management practices, combined with adequate environment and processing, enable more humane treatment of animals, optimizing bird performance and later, product quality, with a reduction in carcass damage.

What are the evaluation criteria for the National Chicken Council (NCC) protocol?

The NCC welfare guidelines for broilers are categorized into 5 sections, briefly presented below:

• Corporate Commitment and Team Training: training must be conducted at least once a year for all employees working with live poultry. Additionally, there must be written training for all production phases, as well as means to report violations of animal welfare and a written animal welfare program.

• Hatchery: there must be a person responsible for ensuring that animal welfare practices are followed; a written plan for disaster response and recovery, and alarm systems in case of failures in critical systems like electricity and heating; and a written program to monitor and respond to chick injuries during handling.

• Growth Operations: this section is subdivided into:

  • Management, training, and emergency plan: a training program is needed, someone in charge of animal welfare, an alarm system in case of failures, and emergency contact details.

  • Nutrition: the feed mill must comply with Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP), have monitoring systems for feed and water, and rations formulations reviewed by a poultry nutritionist.

  • Comfort and shelter: it is important to ensure that birds are protected from environmental conditions and that there is control of ammonia levels in the air and litter quality. Furthermore, it is necessary to provide an environment free of sharp edges or protrusions that could cause injuries, as well as conduct regular assessments of the chickens’ foot health.

  • Health care and monitoring: it is crucial to have a veterinarian available to monitor bird health and draft a written health plan, as well as establish a sanitary void period of at least 10 days between bird batches and maintain daily mortality records.

  • Herd management: adequate housing density for birds should be ensured, and an illumination program should be implemented that allows at least 4 hours of darkness every 24 hours. Another relevant measure is the assessment of bird walking.

• Grappling and Transport: essentially, birds must be caught carefully and correctly. Birds unfit for transport must not be loaded and should be promptly euthanized. The density of transport modules must be appropriate, and it is essential to ensure that the transport compartments are well-maintained.

• Processing Operations: procedures to recover loose birds should be adequate, as should the unloading process, ensuring that cages are being moved correctly. Monitoring of wing and leg injuries, the effectiveness of automatic knives, and the presence of backup personnel after the knife are also fundamental measures.

What are the certification criteria for the National Chicken Council (NCC) protocol?

For certification, there should be no non-conformities in requirements identified in the standard as an Audit Failure (AF).

The criteria that may cause an Audit Failure are:

• Acts of abuse at any stage of production, such as wing, limb, skinning conscious birds; dragging, hitting, kicking a chicken; malicious use of equipment resulting in bone breakage, suffocation, or death of a bird.

• Live chick in the waste bin in the hatchery.

• Loss of birds during transport.

• Live bird in the dead-on-arrival (DOA) bin upon arrival.

• Live bird left in the cage.

• Live bird in the scalding process.

Why choose Animal Welfare Certification for broiler chickens?

Animal Welfare Certification offers various benefits for those involved, including:

• Implementation of best management practices ensuring animal welfare, meeting the requirements of national and international legislation and protocols.

• Transparency of the production process to the final consumer.

• Increase and loyalty of the consumer market.

• Ease in closing commercial agreements with more demanding clients.

• Becoming more attractive to new investments.

Why choose QIMA for Animal Welfare Certification for broiler chickens?

Efficient Communication and Customer Service

• Agile and responsive technical support at all stages.

• Transparent certification process and deadline compliance.

• Proven quality of service, with an NPS satisfaction metric of 72 points.

Cost and Time Optimization

• Integrated audits that minimize the number of visits and costs.

• Simplified processes that reduce operational impacts.

• Strategic and efficient allocation of auditors.

Sector Leadership

• A pioneering company with over 30 years of experience in food safety, organic certification, and sustainability.

• Complete certification ecosystem, from farm to fork.

• Advanced technology for compliance monitoring.