The quality of litter on broiler shed floors directly affects the welfare of billions of chickens, with wet or ammonia-saturated litter causing painful foot and skin lesions.
Footpad dermatitis is both widespread and painful. A chicken with severe lesions on its feet experiences pain with every step, reducing its willingness to move to feed and water points and compromising its ability to engage in natural behaviours. The condition is entirely preventable — footpad dermatitis rates near zero are achievable with appropriate litter management. That the majority of broiler flocks show significant prevalence reflects a gap between technical possibility and economic incentive. The EU welfare directive's footpad dermatitis scoring requirement is a useful policy tool: it creates accountability for producers and provides a measurable welfare outcome that can drive management improvement. Higher-welfare chicken certification schemes typically set lower footpad dermatitis thresholds as conditions of certification.