Behavioural science has identified reliable indicators of positive and negative welfare states in poultry, enabling more sophisticated assessment of flock wellbeing beyond mortality and disease metrics.
Poultry behavioural welfare science has matured to the point where on-farm assessment of welfare is no longer restricted to counting mortality and disease records. Behavioural indicators -- observed in standardised protocols by trained assessors -- provide reliable real-time welfare information. A flock where hens dustbathe enthusiastically, forage actively, and perch at night is showing positive welfare states that no mortality record can capture. A flock where hens stand hunched, feather pecking is frequent, and activity levels are low is showing negative welfare states even if mortality is within industry norms. Integrating behavioural assessment into certification and regulatory inspection is the direction that progressive welfare governance is moving.