Published on Oct. 17, 2017
Animal welfare - our responsibility to the entire protein supply chain
Enhancing the welfare of our layers is not just important for today’s end consumers and for a more transparent food supply chain, we believe it is also the right thing to do. For this reason, we have in place a dedicated welfare program to ensure that our layers are properly cared for according to our set standard practices.
An auditing team is responsible for visiting each layer facility all over the world. The team looks at every aspect of layer welfare and ensures the proper procedures are being followed. Audits are conducted at pure line and Grand Parent farms as well as Parent Stock farms and hatcheries.
As more consumer brands commit to sourcing cage-free eggs only, we recognize our responsibility in providing the market with the right products for this new environment. One of our testing programs is established to collect data from birds raised in alternative housing systems. The program focuses on robust traits to select birds that are most forgiving in terms of production, feathering, and mortality. In addition, since the ban on beak treatment in Europe, we research birds under commercial circumstances with intact beaks in order to select from ‘friendly families’ in order to prevent feather pecking.
These are just some of the initiatives in progress to maintain high welfare standards for the animals in our care as well as lead forward in the industry.
