NEWS FEED & ADDITIVE MAGAZINE August 2025 123 A new Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra)-commissioned £500k commercial poultry catching and handling study is aiming to improve the welfare of farmed birds throughout Britain. Led by Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and the University of Bristol, the comprehensive collaboration between academic research teams, industry, Humane Slaughter Association and a poultry veterinary consultant is set to take place over three years and will collect data from over 100 commercial poultry flocks, leading to best practise for poultry wellbeing. The project will assess the catching and handling of commercial poultry that are caught when they are being moved between housing systems, or before going to slaughter. By comparing the two main methods of catching and handling (either by two legs or catching upright) the research will discover how each approach impacts on the overall process duration and bird welfare. Dr Vicky Sandilands, Lead Researcher at SRUC, said: “High animal welfare standards are a key component of agricultural best practice and so we’re grateful to Defra for the opportunity to investigate the impact of catching and handling on chickens. Our Monogastric Innovation Centre and Animal Behaviour and Welfare teams at SRUC look forward to a close collaboration with colleagues at the University of Bristol and Humane Slaughter Association to provide evidence on best catching and handling practices, to safeguard the welfare of commercial poultry.” Read more>> New study to review poultry welfare in handling practices Photo: Scotland’s Rural College Poland-based the Gobarto Group opened a sow management facility in Poland. The turn-key farm is one of the most modern in the country – with buildings, housing equipment and expertise from Big Dutchman. Just half an hour south-east of Frankfurt (Oder), around 210,000 weaners will now be produced annually for the finishing farms in the region. “This was our second project with Gobarto; the first sow farm started operation five years ago. For a facility of this size, you need an experienced and reliable partner – a partner like Big Dutchman,” said Wolfgang Etzl, Big Dutchman’s Director Sales Pig Europe & MEA. The farm is located in Bieganów, a village just a few kilometres from the border between Germany and Poland. Big Dutchman planned the facility as a turn-key project and realised it in just one and a half years. “The 25 buildings were constructed by our Polish subsidiary Agricon. Big Dutchman provided all the housing equipment,” added Etzl. The farm is highlighted as meeting the highest biosecurity and technology standards and focusing on profitability and sustainability equally. Read more>> New turn-key sow management facility launched in Poland Photo: Big Dutchman
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