[BERG] BERG-SHAIR meeting next week 2nd October

Dear all, Next week Wednesday at 4pm in the Psychology Common Room (and hybrid on Teams – link below) we will have our first talk of the academic year 2024-2025. Jenny Mace, Independent Researcher from Mace Animal Welfare. Jenny will talk about "Pushing the boundaries in companion chicken care" According to the latest estimates available, chickens are arguably the third most numerous companion animal in many western countries. Despite this, there is limited research into their welfare status or the behaviours and attitudes of their guardians when it comes to chicken care. The few welfare studies that do exist suggest considerable welfare issues for chickens in the domestic environment, including a euthanasia rate nearly 30 times that reported for dogs. Thus, this questionnaire-based study sought to collect the most wide-ranging and in-depth data on chicken care to date. There was a particular focus on more novel and niche care taking practices, such as the growing phenomenon of ex-commercial hen care, caring for indoor chickens, caring for disabled chickens, and use of a hormonal implant to halt egg-laying for purported health and welfare benefits. This talk will draw out the most important and novel results from the study. I look forward to sharing this with you! Link: https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup-join/19%3a9823d93069124396a7a40d99c827… Best, Alex ________________________________ Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence The University of Stirling is a charity registered in Scotland, number SC 011159