Volume 146, July 2016, Pages 55–69
- a Business Economics Group, Wageningen University, Hollandseweg 1, 6706 KN Wageningen, the Netherlands
- b Wageningen UR Livestock Research, PO Box 338, 6700 AH Wageningen, the Netherlands
- Received 4 September 2015, Revised 30 March 2016, Accepted 3 April 2016, Available online 23 April 2016
Highlights
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- Middle-market systems had the highest cost-efficiency.
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- Broiler type, stocking density and length of dark period contributed most to animal welfare.
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- Free-range had a relatively low contribution to the level of animal welfare.
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- Middle-market systems give flexibility to farmers to revert to the conventional system.
Abstract
Broiler
producers operate in a highly competitive and cost-price driven
environment. In addition, in recent years the societal pressure to
improve animal welfare (AW) in broiler production systems is increasing.
Hence, from an economic and decision making point of view, the
cost-efficiency of improvement in AW obtained from a certain production
system is of great importance. Therefore, the aim of this paper was to
analyze the contribution of four different production systems to overall
AW and the cost-efficiency of increased AW at the farm level.
Cost-efficiency was calculated as the ratio of the change in the level
of animal welfare and the change in the level of production costs
compared to the level of conventional system (i.e., legal minimum
standards). The level of AW was measured by the Welfare Quality index
score (WQ index score) calculated on the basis of data collected in 168
flocks in the Netherlands, United Kingdom and Italy within the Welfare
Quality® project. On the basis of system attributes, three main segments
of production systems are distinguished, i.e., conventional,
middle-market and top-market systems. The middle-market and top-market
systems use a slow growing breed. Stocking density ranges from 25 to
31 kg/m2 in middle-market systems and from 21 to 27.5 kg/m2
in top-market systems. In the middle-market systems, a covered veranda
is provided to the chickens, whereas in the top-market systems chickens
have access to an outdoor range. Results show that the middle-market
systems, such as Volwaard and Puur & Eerlijk systems, had the
highest WQ index score (736), whereas the conventional system had the
lowest (577). Moreover, the WQ index score of extensive outdoor (733)
and organic systems (698) was below that of the middle-market systems.
The major system attributes that differentiate between production
systems are broiler type, stocking density and outdoor access. Three
system attributes contributed most to AW in all systems, i.e., broiler
type, stocking density and length of the dark period. With respect to
production costs, broiler chickens kept in conventional system were
produced at the lowest costs, followed by the middle-market, the
extensive outdoor, and the organic systems. With regard to
cost-efficiency, when shifting from conventional to an alternative
system, middle-market systems (i.e., Volwaard and Puur & Eerlijk;
8.37) outperformed the extensive outdoor (3.90) and organic systems
(1.03). Overall, it can be concluded that the middle-market systems
could be attractive for farmers due to their high cost-efficiency and
the flexibility to revert to the conventional system.
Keywords
- Animal welfare;
- Broiler production;
- Cost-efficiency
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