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Alternative Systems for Poultry – Health, Welfare and Productivity. Poultry Science Symposium Series Volume 30. Edited by Victoria Sandilands and Paul M. Hocking

Overall, this is an excellent collection of contributions from WPSA Symposium Number 30, held at the University of Strathclyde, Scotland in July 2011, which contains an immense amount of comprehensive information. It’s not easy to weld 17 chapters into a coherent whole — the editors have, on the whole, achieved this and can be congratulated on producing what will be a useful reference volume for poultry lecturers, scientists and producers. There are a few criticisms — the chapters differ widely in scope, level of approach and comprehensiveness, while there is some overlap between them, resulting in wasteful replication. Sometimes this is considerable — for example, chapters 6 and 7 could well have been combined into one. Chapter 1 is an extensive review of the history of the subject, from the first furore in the 1960s caused by the publication of ‘‘Animal Machines’’ and the Report of the Brambell Committee to the banning of the conventional cage throughout the EU in 2012. The aim of research in this area has been to develop systems which best meet the needs of birds, consumers and producers. Then comes a full description (2) of the legislation, knowledge which is unexciting but is important to those scrutinising, regulating and enforcing it. There is a typo in this chapter: ‘‘infra’’ appears when ‘‘infrared’’ is meant. Chapter 3 is a useful analysis of the interactions between economics, consumer choice, stakeholders and decision makers. Maintaining good health and treating disease (4) in loose-housed flocks is much more of a challenge than in conventional housing. It requires first-class systems design, management and stockmanship, as well as stringent disease control. Chapter 5 examines the incidence of potential zoonotic pathogens in different systems. There is no evidence that Salmonella is more frequent in loose-housed birds — if anything, rather the contrary. Campylobacter, though, does seem to be less frequent in broilers housed indoors. However, the incidence of antibiotic-resistant strains is less in free-range and organic flocks. Two chapters (6 and 7) deal with village chicken production, which is becoming popular in developing countries, based on a low-input/ low-output model. Mortality is high, but can be greatly reduced by improved management and basic disease control, including vaccination. Indigenous breeds are preferred and contribute to family economics as well improving the family diet. Upgrading by increasing flock size, improving nutrition and using modern strains means that it can be relevant in more urbanised areas. Backyard production in developed countries is also expanding dramatically, with hens frequently being kept as companion animals. The first part of chapter 7 covers much the same ground as 6 but with more of a focus on cultural factors and resources; the second part deals with technology transfer, genetic strategies such as cross-breeding to produce strains more suited to local conditions, and providing producers with advice, assistance and education, and marketing. Waterfowl production (8) represents only a small fraction of global poultry output but is important in Asia, especially China. Pekin ducks are the most widespread, but Muscovies and Mules occupy significant niches. Geese form a small minority and are really only of importance in China. In Europe, welfare and sustainability issues are influential, so housing standards are high and generally meet behavioural needs — for example, fully-slatted floors are now forbidden and access to water is recommended. In contrast, in China, husbandry is moving away from traditional extensive systems towards intensive keeping on slats or wire, though the integrated ‘‘fish-duck’’ method is still popular, using ponds which also produce Tilapia, as too is the duck-rice paddy field system. In many Chinese intensive systems there are litter floors and bathing areas. Cages are used for laying strains.