The Centre is celebrating the publication of its fifth scientific paper as a result of the work carried out in Activity 3 in 2022.  The present study demonstrates that mixtures of carbon dioxide with nitrogen improve a broiler chicken’s welfare during stunning since they result in a more rapid induction of unconsciousness and reduce the aversion experienced, compared to carbon dioxide in two phases, in broiler chickens. This article named " Alternatives to Carbon...

We look forward to welcoming a new member to the EURCAW family! On 17 January the fourth European Union Reference Centre for Animal Welfare was designated – this new EURCAW will focus on aquatic species.   EURCAW Aquatic Animals will be led by the University of Crete in Greece, in partnership with the Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Parasitology in Czechia and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona in Spain.   The designation was...

The third Reflection Board meeting between representatives of the Reflection Board (RB) organizations (from the EU Platform on Animal Welfare) and the EURCAW-Poultry-SFA, was held remotely via Teams on December, 12th 2023 afternoon. In total 14 participants, six of them from seven EU platform entities forming the RB, and seven from the EURCAW-Poultry-SFA were connected. One representative from DG SANTE attended as an observer.   This meeting was the occasion to present the...

The fourth EU-network meeting between representatives of EU MS Competent Authorities (CAs) and the EURCAW-Poultry-SFA, took place virtually on October 24-25, 2023 on 2 *0,5 days. In total 59 participants, from 22 EU MSs participated, including 39 delegates from CAs, 13 from EURCAW-Poultry-SFA, and 7 observers: two DG SANTE unit G5 representatives, three EFSA representatives, and two EFTA representatives.    This meeting was the occasion to present the Centre’s work...

Organized by EURCAW-Poultry-SFA. The webinar was held via Teams. Target audience: Official inspectors from the Competent Authorities of the EU MSs Attendance through invitation only.     The PDF of the presentation is available here. The webinar recording is available here.    Description: Directive 98/58/EC concerning the protection of animals kept for farming purposes requires that Member States ensure that animals are kept under...

The video on the assessment of the state of consciousness after waterbath stunning in turkeys can be found on the website page "Stunning" or directly here.

From 26 to 29 June 2023, the eleven European Symposium on Poultry Welfare took place in Prague (Czech Republic). Seven members of the EURCAW-Poultry-SFA participated and two members had an oral communication based on results arising from the Centre’s work. EURCAW-Poultry-SFA members (from the left to the right: A.Contreras, F.Mocz, A.B.Riber, V.Michel, K.E.Wurtz., A.Velarde)   Session 4 – Bone quality, 27.06.23, proceeding p46 Effect of environmental enrichments...

On 20 June, the 3 EURCAWs hosted the Common EURCAW meeting for the National Reference Centres (NRCs) & Supporting Bodies (SBs). At the start of the meeting, the EURCAWs presented highlights of their current activities. The next session introduced two relatively new NRCs for Animal Welfare – Spain (established in March 2023) and Slovenia (established in January 2022).  The National Centre Group for Animal Welfare (NCGAW) then led an interactive session. The NCGAW currently...

The first physical Centre management meeting of the year was held in Denmark in Vejle from 12 to 14 April 2023. Thirteen members of the Centre met in order to prepare the third 3 EURCAWs-NRCs/SBs meeting, the fourth CAs meeting (save the date: online meeting, 2*0.5 days during the last week of October 2023) and work together on the 2023 various tasks.    

Organized by EURCAW-Poultry-SFA. The webinar was held via Teams. Target audience: Official inspectors from the Competent Authorities of the EU MSs Attendance through invitation only.   The PDF of the presentation is available here. The webinar recording is available here.    Description: Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009 of 24 September 2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing requires assessing the state of consciousness of the...