"The ethics of laying hen genetics" featured in Viten newsletter

Our article "The ethics of laying hen genetics" is featured today in the newsletter "Viten" #7, 2020 (distributed today), distributed by the Norwegian Animal Protection organization Dyrevernalliansen (by email):

Avlsproblemer for verpehøns
Avlen for intensiv egglegging har medført at verpehøns har betydelige velferdsproblemer. Forskere tilknyttet GroupHouseNet-prosjektet har kartlagt statusen internasjonalt, som domineres av fire avlskonserner. Foreløpig tilbyr ikke disse konsernene alternative raser med påvist betydelig bedre velferd, og konsernene unnlater å publisere informasjon som kunne ha blitt brukt til å utvikle slike bedre rasealternativer.

Kilde: Fernyhough M. et al., "The ethics of laying hen genetics", Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 33:15-26, 2020.

Our article is Open Access and therefore freely available for download.

MC meeting; leaving Paris

Today I attended the second half of the Management Committee meeting of the COST action GroupHouseNet, at FIAP in Paris (I am a deputy representative for Norway). I was also there for a planned Working Group meeting which for most of those present did not materialize due to concerns over our trips home given the ongoing political strike affecting pubic transportation.

Laying hen ethics article presented at final GroupHouseNet congress in Paris

Yesterday I presented our article "The ethics of laying hen genetics" at the Final Congress og the COST action "Synergy for preventing damaging behavior in group housed pigs and chickens" (Grouphousenet), at FIAP in Paris. 15 minutes of fame. Some 100 people from 20+ countries attended the congress.

To present "The ethics of laying hen genetics" at GroupHouseNet final dissemination event in Paris December 10th

I am scheduled to present our paper "The ethics of laying hen genetics" at the Final Dissemination Meeting of the COST action "GroupHouseNet", which takes place in Paris on December 10th. The paper is co-written with Mia Fernyhough (first author), Mike Toscano, Christine Nicol and Teun van de Braak - and will shortly appear Open Access in Journal of agricultural and environmental ethics.

Ethics of laying hen genetics article submitted

Our article "The ethics of laying hen genetics" (by Mia Fernyhough et al.) has been submitted to PLOS Genetics.

COST progress report mentioning ethics of laying hen genetics article

GroupHouseNet has compiled and submitted a progress report at 24 months. The report makes reference to the ethics of laying hen genetics article that is in process written by Mia Fernyhough, me and three more.

STSM in progress; article disposition drafted

Since Monday this week I have been working with Mia Fernyhough as part of a Short-Term Scientific Mission that involves her research visit hosted by me at University of Stavanger. Along with three further collaborators we are working on a scientific article on the ethics of laying hen genetics. Today we completed a disposition.

STSM in preparation

Preparations and plans for the Short-Term Scientific Mission I will host in February are moving ahead, today with a call to coordinate and discuss the way ahead.

No ethics of laying hen breeding STSM

Apparently, GroupHouseNet did not receive any application for a Short Term Scientific Mission (STSM) related to the ethics of laying hen breeding, a prospective project I was involved in.

See also:

GroupHouseNet STSM: Ethics of laying hen breeding

GroupHouseNet STSM: Ethics of laying hen breeding

GroupHouseNet has issued a call for Short Term Scientific Missions (STSMs) in 2017-18. I am involved as a host in one of the priority topics:

WG1 Ethics of laying hen breeding, Host Morten Tonnessen, Stavanger, Norway,
(Collaborators Mike Toscano, Christine Nicol, Teun van de Braak) – Ethical considerations of laying hen breeding companies. morten.tonnessen[a]uis.no

Application deadline is August 15th.

Report from GroupHouseNet stakeholder workshop

Here is a brief report from the stakeholder workshop I co-organised in Skopje, Macedonia, in early June as part of the COST action GroupHouseNet.

Work group meetings in Macedonia

Today I have attended parts of the work group meetings of GroupHouseNet in Skopje, Macedonia. Soon the meeting will be closing.

Minutes on tail biting written

I have just written minutes for the group work yesterday, for one of the three groups at the GroupHouseNet stakeholder workshop in Skopje, Macedonia, focused on avoiding tail docking and reducing tail biting in pigs (3pp).

Secretary for GroupHouseNet stakeholder group work

Today I have acted as secretary for one of the three groups at the GroupHouseNet stakeholder workshop in Skopje, Macedonia. Our topic was how to avoid tail docking and tail biting in pigs.

Skopje

I have arrived in Skopje, Macedonia. And attended an informal dinner with some of the participants at the stakeholder workshop that will take place tomorrow. A lovely atmosphere.

Visa for Turkey

I have just applied for, and received a visa for Turkey, in connection with my participation at a GroupHouseNet COST event over two days this week in Skopje, Macedonia. I will be returning to Norway via Istanbul, with a night there.

Skopje approaching

I have now formally been invited to stakeholder meeting and work group meeting to take place in Skopje, Macedonia, on June 7th to 8th, and accepted. I have also arranged the flight - and contributed to the making of the draft programme.

Second Announcement: "From beak to tail – mechanisms underlying damaging behaviour in laying hens and pigs", ISAE 2017 Satellite Meeting

Second Announcement for the ISAE 2017 Satellite Meeting:

"From beak to tail – mechanisms underlying damaging  behaviour in laying hens and pigs"

Organized jointly by the FareWellDock Network and the GroupHouseNet COST Action.

By joining efforts on an interspecies level, we have the opportunity to greatly enhance the understanding of the mechanisms underlying tail biting and feather pecking. Both behaviours are challenging, from an animal welfare and from an economic point-of-view, while in several countries, as well as at the EU level, the ethical justification of tail docking and beak trimming is currently being debated. 

This full-day meeting will be held at the ISAE 2017 congress venue on August 7th , 2017, starting at 9am. The meeting will focus on two main themes: 'Mechanisms underlying the link between health and damaging behaviour' and 'Predisposing factors for damaging behaviour during early development'. Both themes will be introduced by invited experts, followed by short research presentations by participants, and then elaborated on in inter-species discussion groups. In addition, the program will include a networking session, with the aim to facilitate knowledge exchange and future cooperation between researchers working on damaging behaviour in pigs and poultry.

Registration for the meeting will be open until May 15th, 2017. The meeting participation is limited to 80 persons, so early registration is recommended. 

For further information on the programme and venue, and on how to register, please see the "Beak to Tail" homepage or contact: anna.valros@helsinki.fi.

The workshop is sponsored by Topigs Norsvin, RSPCA and COST.

Planning meeting on Skopje GroupHouseNet stakeholder workshop

I have just taken part in a planning meeting of GroupHouseNet (Synergy for damaging behaviour in group housed pigs and chickens) in relation to our planned stakeholder workshop in Skopje, Macedonia, on June 7th.

Planning of Skopje stakeholder workshop

Today I attended a meeting via Skype in relation to planning of a stakeholder workshop to be held in Skopje, Macedonia on June 8th by the COST action GroupHouseNet (Synergy for preventing damaging behaviour in group housed pigs and chickens).