University of Oxford Zoology Department
FAI Farms will be working on a five-year project funded by the Tubney Charitable Trust to develop and test commercially a genetic selection process which will lead to a new breed of broiler chicken which meets the requirement of the organic and free range markets and enables a more relaxed system of barn production.
About 75 per cent of the world’s food animals are broiler chickens and some 200 billion are produced annually – 800 million of them in the UK.
Improvements in commercial productivity have developed broilers which reach a finished weight of 2.5kg in less than 40 days – and birds retained for breeding continue to grow at this accelerated rate, which means that as adults they have to be severely feed restricted to prevent obesity, health problems, lowered male fertility and loss of egg production.
Broiler chicken welfare has become a priority among animal welfare organisations and public bodies such as the Farm Animal Welfare Council and there is increasing demand for a “high welfare” bird among organic and free-range producers in the European market (which currently produces 25 million and 250 million birds respectively each year).
The project will take the form of a partnership between FAI and Oxford University, with Professor Marian Dawkins taking the lead on animal welfare and FAI providing the infrastructure and management and ensuring commercial viability is achieved and maintained. The project will be monitored by the Farm Animal Welfare Trust, led by Professor Sir Colin Spedding.