Rethinking poultry housing & aviary systems: putting hen welfare first

As a product manager working in the poultry industry (and specifically in the aviary sector), it's essential to stay up-to-date with hen welfare regulations. This is vital to help poultry farmers pivot their operations to meet standards, be compliant, and stay competitive in the market. Right now, there are two trends happening across the aviary market. As a result of tightening regulations and increased consumer demands around animal welfare. In this blog, we highlight these trends and share how they’re affecting the aviary market. 

1. Transfer from cage to aviary systems

The shift from cage to aviary systems for laying hens is growing worldwide. Although aviary systems are designed to stimulate and improve hen wellbeing, they also come with challenges within the system. Since the birds have more freedom to move, the risk of more floor eggs and feather pecking increases. This is a hurdle that aviary system product managers have to adapt to. Finding solutions that work for all parties in terms of managing bird behavior can help to limit these occurrences, improve hen wellbeing and boost farm performance while reducing costs. Every element of the system needs to be adapted for the hens to stimulate wellbeing and performance while reducing costs. Lighting plays a key role to achieve this.  

2. Reducing the use of antibiotics

As part of the sector-wide shift towards greater concern for hen welfare, there has been a new focus on reducing the regular use of antibiotics. Curbing reliance on antibiotics is something that product managers can directly help with, by building and fitting out systems that foster healthy behavior within the birds and promote natural immunity and good health. It’s about creating optimal conditions for healthy birds.To improve holistic bird health and biosecurity on the farm, product managers are starting to incorporate ventilations, lighting, and additional elements for the aviary system.

Putting hen welfare first is a key trend within the aviary market, but it’s not the only one. Our experts have written a trend report to help you understand which developments are affecting the market. It will help you to tap into these trends to benefit your business and operations.