a bird for every system

WELFARE OF THE FLOCK

At Hy-Line North America we place the highest priority on the care and safety of our people and the health and well-being of our birds.

We prioritize our commitment to the ongoing improvement of animal welfare practices throughout the supply chain,as well as refinement of the sustainability of egg production. Our priorities include a commitment to continuous improvement for the birds in our care to ensure optimum health and welfare by following strict standards and principles.

Welfare Goals and Principles

  • Health and veterinary care: Science-based health programs and prompt veterinary care for our birds, developed and overseen by company veterinarians
  • Husbandry and handling practices: Comprehensive care and handling procedures, approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA), that ensure birds’ well-being
  • High quality feed and water: Quality water and nutritionally balanced diets
  • Environment: Shelters designed, maintained and operated to meet the birds’ needs and to facilitate daily inspection, for the safety of our birds and well-being of our employees
  • Transportation: Streamlined transportation to minimize the time birds spend in transit and limit stress
  • Training: Ongoing training of our employees in animal handling, welfare, safety, biosecurity, and general husbandry
  • Research: International projects focused on thecontinuous improvement of our operations, including In Ovo gender identification research

We employ an animal welfare committee and have animal welfare coordinators at each of our facilities to ensure all our employees adhere to our goals and principles. The animal welfare committee is responsible for reviewing, improving and/or modifying our current practices on a yearly basis. Our coordinators provide ongoing guidance and are the points of contact if someone reports an animal welfare violation as part of our zero-tolerance policy.

We regularly evaluate our operations and continue to test and develop new technologies to better address the needs of our customers, our employees, our animals, and our world.

Reporting Violations

If any person witnesses willful neglect or abuse of our birds, they are urged to immediately send an email to: awinfo@hylinena.com

Please provide sufficient details, such as name and telephone callback number, and specific incident particulars so we are able to act on these reports immediately. If violations of our policies and procedures have occurred, we will take swift and appropriate actions, including filing of formal charges and dismissal of the perpetrators.

 

Audits and Updates

We complete annual third-party and internal audits of our welfare policies, practices, procedures and operational facilities. Our goal is to ensure that we maintain compliance of our own policies in addition to the latest industry developments and best practices.