The quality of litter in broiler chicken sheds directly affects welfare through contact dermatitis, infection risk, and air quality, making litter management a critical welfare determinant.
Litter quality is a fundamental determinant of broiler welfare that has the advantage of being measurable and manageable at the producer level. Poor litter quality creates a cascade of welfare harms: contact dermatitis (hock burns, breast blisters, and foot pad dermatitis) from wet or ammonia-laden litter causes chronic pain and impairs mobility in already locomotion-compromised fast-growing birds. Respiratory irritation from ammonia damages mucous membranes throughout the respiratory tract, predisposing to infection. Ocular damage from ammonia causes painful conjunctivitis and keratitis. These welfare harms are preventable through appropriate stocking density, ventilation management, and litter quality monitoring - interventions that are known, practical, and linked to regulatory requirements in better-regulated systems.