Poultry Welfare—Behavioural Assessment of Affective State
A special issue of Animals (ISSN 2076-2615). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Welfare".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2026 | Viewed by 54
Special Issue Editor
Interests: poultry behaviour; poultry welfare; early life effects; fear behaviour; cognitive development; physiological development
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Poultry welfare is a critical area of animal science, not only because of the vast number of individuals affected by human management practices, but also due to the ethical, economic, and sustainability implications of ensuring good welfare. Chickens, turkeys, ducks, and other landfowl or waterfowl are raised in large numbers globally, making the assessment and improvement of their welfare a pressing concern. This Special Issue aims to compile scientific contributions that advance our understanding of how individual animals feel, to reduce their suffering and increase positive experiences.
To support this aim, we invite submissions that explore poultry welfare, with a particular focus on the behavioural assessment of valenced, subjective experiences. We welcome primary research exploring negative or positive affective states as well as studies focused on the development and validation of behavioural indicators. In addition to empirical studies, we encourage the submission of reviews and opinion pieces that critically examine current methodologies or propose new frameworks for evaluating affective states in poultry. Topics may include interdisciplinary approaches, with a focus on animal behaviour and its integration with related fields such as physiology, genetics, and nutrition.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Ana K. Rentsch
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Animals is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- poultry
- galliformes
- anseriformes animal welfare
- ethology
- affective state
- behavioural indicators
- mental health
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