"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.

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.

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.

Management Committee meeting for COST action GroupHouseNet in Belgrade attended

Yesterday I attended the second Management Committee meeting of the COST-action "GroupHouseNet" (Synergy for preventing damaging behavior in group housed pigs and chickens, CA15134), in Belgrade, Serbia. After the 8 hour meeting we had a social dinner, with Serbian food and music.