Broiler Industry: Key Messages 

BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES: Raising chickens requires a high degree of commitment and knowledge, and our farmers give constant care and attention to their health and feeding.

•  Chickens in Canada are raised in clean, well-ventilated, climate-controlled barns, where they can roam freely.
• The chicken barn is heated before the chicks are placed, in order to ensure they have warm, comfortable surroundings.
• Feed systems and water lines are checked daily to ensure that birds always have unrestricted access to food and water.
• Chickens in Canada are raised on family farms. In fact, unlike in many other places in the world, over 90% of all of Canada’s farms are family-owned and operated. 

ANIMAL CARE: Animal Care is a Strategic Priority of the Alberta Chicken Producers and the Canadian chicken industry.

• As of December 2011, each registered producer in Alberta must be certified under the Animal Care Program as a condition of his/her licence to produce chicken.  All registered chicken producers in Alberta will receive an initial audit under the Animal Care Program in 2011, with ongoing annual audits.
• The Canadian chicken industry works closely with its partners to ensure the stringent regulations related to the care and handling of our birds are met and followed. As part of this dedication, Chicken Farmers of Canada has begun implementing an auditable Animal Care Program designed to demonstrate and maintain the high level and standards of the Canadian chicken industry’s on-farm animal care.
• Support for the implementation of the program has come from: the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies, the Canadian Veterinary Medical Association, the Canadian Poultry and Egg Processors Council, the Further Poultry Processors Association of Canada and the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers. 

FOOD SAFETY: Food safety is among the top concerns for Canadians, and we believe that food safety begins on the farm. 

• Chicken farmers across Canada follow a strict On-Farm Food Safety Assurance Program, which sets the standards for raising chicken Canadians trust. The program includes measures for biosecurity, animal health and audited record-keeping to ensure that regulations are being upheld by individual farmers.
• Farmers undergo an annual audit. These third-party audits are conducted by professionals trained in HACCP principles and on-farm food safety and auditing techniques. After successfully completing their first audit, farmers receive an OFFSAP certificate. To maintain their certification, farmers must be re-certified annually.
• Certification under the On-Farm Food Safety Assurance Program is a mandatory condition of a producers’ licence to market chicken in Alberta. All registered chicken farmers in Alberta have been certified under the On-Farm Food Safety Assurance Program since 2004.