Litter quality is a key determinant of broiler and laying hen welfare. Good litter management prevents footpad dermatitis, respiratory disease, and feather soiling.
Litter quality is one of the most tractable welfare interventions in poultry farming. Footpad dermatitis — the lesions caused by contact with wet, ammoniated litter — is painful, impairs walking, and affects millions of birds. The evidence base linking litter management practices to FPD is robust: stocking density, drinker type, ventilation, and litter material all demonstrably affect litter moisture and bird welfare. Mandatory FPD scoring at slaughter, with results fed back to farms and linked to production limits for high-scoring flocks, has been shown to drive welfare improvement through commercial incentives. This is a rare example of a welfare monitoring system that is both scientifically valid and practically implementable at industry scale.