Litter quality in poultry houses is a critical welfare determinant — wet, ammonia-saturated litter causes foot pad dermatitis, hock burns, and respiratory harm affecting billions of birds.
Litter quality is a welfare multiplier in broiler production — poor litter causes foot and skin lesions that affect billions of birds annually, alongside respiratory harm from ammonia accumulation. Wet litter from inadequate ventilation, overcrowding, and excessive water spillage creates conditions for foot pad dermatitis, where the skin of the foot pad breaks down into painful ulcerated lesions. These are welfare indicators that are directly measurable and directly addressable through management. EU legislation that uses foot pad dermatitis scoring as a welfare audit metric has proven effective at driving management improvement because it creates a direct, objective accountability measure.