Footpad dermatitis is among the most prevalent and painful conditions affecting broiler chickens worldwide. Its prevention through litter management represents a high-impact, cost-effective welfare improvement.
Footpad dermatitis in broiler chickens represents a welfare problem of enormous scale — affecting billions of individual birds annually — that is largely preventable through management changes that are well understood by the industry. Wet litter is the proximate cause: high stocking densities generate heat and moisture that degrade litter quality, and ammonia from accumulated waste causes chemical burns to foot skin that progress to painful ulcers. Birds with severe FPD walk less, eat less, drink less, and show postural changes consistent with pain avoidance. Slaughter-line monitoring of footpad lesion scores provides a welfare audit tool that links farm conditions to measurable outcomes at processing. Countries and retailers that have implemented FPD scoring-based supplier incentives have seen measurable improvements in flock-level prevalence. The most effective interventions are structural: lower stocking densities, slower-growing breeds, improved ventilation, and waterline management. These align with broader welfare improvements that also benefit other welfare measures including leg health and mortality.