Footpad dermatitis is a painful and prevalent condition in broiler chickens caused by wet and ammonia-rich litter. It is a key welfare indicator and productivity measure in commercial poultry production.
Footpad dermatitis is simultaneously a welfare problem and a production indicator, making it a useful leverage point for welfare improvement in commercial poultry. The pain caused by severe lesions affects bird mobility, feeding, and overall quality of life. The slaughterhouse monitoring of footpad scores in Nordic countries provides a practical model for using welfare outcome data to drive on-farm improvement, with farmers receiving feedback that enables targeted management changes. Extending mandatory footpad monitoring to more jurisdictions would provide a welfare floor while generating data to identify the management factors most amenable to improvement.