Antibiotic use in poultry farming raises both animal welfare and public health concerns. Evidence-based stewardship programs reduce antibiotic use while maintaining or improving welfare outcomes.
The connection between antibiotic stewardship and animal welfare is counter-intuitive but real. The historical reliance on antibiotics in poultry production masked welfare problems that, without antibiotic cover, become apparent as disease outbreaks. Transitioning away from routine antibiotic use forces the management improvements - better housing, lower stocking densities, improved hygiene, vaccination - that address the underlying welfare problems rather than suppressing their symptoms. Countries that have successfully reduced antibiotic use in poultry have typically achieved this through management improvements that simultaneously reduce disease and improve welfare. Antibiotic stewardship, properly implemented, is a welfare reform as much as a public health intervention.