USDA Process Verified Program for Poultry Care

The Perdue USDA Process Verified Program for Poultry Care and the Five Freedoms

An Evolving Baseline Standard for How We Raise Chickens

Our USDA Process Verified Program for Poultry Care covers a minimum of 188 audit points, with more than 50 documented processes across seven areas, from hatchery to harvest. Our Process Verified Program (PVP) covers all our live production and harvesting operations, establishing an evolving baseline standard. 

The Poultry Care PVP also requires a corporate commitment, including:

• An animal welfare program endorsed and fully supported by current senior management
• A person or management group responsible for animal welfare throughout the operation
• An implemented and documented internal and external auditing program
• A mechanism for reporting animal welfare violations without threat of retaliation

In this report, we show how each of the Verified Processes supports the Five Freedoms, and we summarize the Perdue Commitments to Animal Care initiatives that are helping us improve in each of the seven areas. We will continue to update this as we add or complete initiatives and as we make changes to our PVP processes as a result of those initiatives.

Hatchery

Verified Processes	Freedom from Hunger and Thirst	Freedom from Discomfort	Freedom from Pain, Injury and Disease	Freedom to Express Normal Behavior	Freedom from Fear and Distress	Commitments to Animal Care Improvements
Animal care training for all associates						Studying hatchability and chick health of alternative breeds
Proper euthanasia of chicks that won't survive
Temperature and humidity standards for chick comfort
Hatchery alarms for deviations in temperature or humidity levels of equipment failures
Standards to prevent injuries during chick processing
Standards for delivering chicks to farms

Farmers

Verified Processes	Freedom from Hunger and Thirst	Freedom from Discomfort	Freedom from Pain, Injury and Disease	Freedom to Express Normal Behavior	Freedom from Fear and Distress	Commitments to Animal Care Improvements
Animal care training for all farmers						• Ongoing efforts to improve farmer communications and engage farmers to gain insights from their experience • Incentives to reward farmers for animal care
Standards for culling and proper euthanasia
Twice-daily minimum checks of the poultry house by farmers

Farm Environment

Verified Processes	Freedom from Hunger and Thirst	Freedom from Discomfort	Freedom from Pain, Injury and Disease	Freedom to Express Normal Behavior	Freedom from Fear and Distress	Commitments to Animal Care Improvements
Standards for litter condition and moisture						• Paw health improvements • Increased lighting and a minimum six-hour continuous lights-off period • Studying the effects of space and light on bird activity and welfare • Longer layouts • Goals to increase the number of houses with windows and number of houses with outdoor access • Initiatives to reward farmers for animal care outcomes • Ongoing efforts to increase bird activity • Engaging farmers in designing chicken house enrichments • Improving our culling programs
Standards for ammonia level and control
Paw health standards
Cage-free environment
Standards for vermin control
Biosecurity protocols
Fresh-air ventilation
Minimum lighting levels (increased as a result of our Commitments to Animal Care initiatives)
Minimum six-hour continuous lights-off rest period (increased from four hours and changed to continuous as a result of our Commitments to Animal Care initiatives)
Outdoor pasture areas (where applicable) meet National Organic Program standards
Minimum space requirements depending upon bird size
Continuous access to feed and water

Nutrition

Verified Processes	Freedom from Hunger and Thirst	Freedom from Discomfort	Freedom from Pain, Injury and Disease	Freedom to Express Normal Behavior	Freedom from Fear and Distress	Commitments to Animal Care Improvements
Feed formulated by poultry nutritionists						Research into alternative feed ingredients and chick nutrition
Feed manufactured at an FDA-inspected feed mill following GMPs (Good Manufacturing Practices)

Health

Verified Processes	Freedom from Hunger and Thirst	Freedom from Discomfort	Freedom from Pain, Injury and Disease	Freedom to Express Normal Behavior	Freedom from Fear and Distress	Commitments to Animal Care Improvements
Gait scoring						• Additional housing to support longer layouts (time between flocks) • Research into the health of alternative breeds • Increased focus on leg health
Professional veterinary care
Documented health plan
Minimum 10 days between flocks (layout)

Livehaul

Verified Processes	Freedom from Hunger and Thirst	Freedom from Discomfort	Freedom from Pain, Injury and Disease	Freedom to Express Normal Behavior	Freedom from Fear and Distress	Commitments to Animal Care Improvements
Training for all individuals handling live birds						• Initiatives to recognize and reward animal care outcomes for catching crew members • Video monitoring • Improving bird comfort during transport • Research into mechanical catching
Standards for transport module condition
Standards for feed and water withdrawal times (including maximums)
Standards for proper catching technique
Standards for number of birds per transport module
Seasonal adjustments for bird comfort
Recognition and reinforcement of proper catching technique
Documented program for emergency (including transport accidents) response
Standards for mechanical catching

Holding and Receiving

Verified Processes	Freedom from Hunger and Thirst	Freedom from Discomfort	Freedom from Pain, Injury and Disease	Freedom to Express Normal Behavior	Freedom from Fear and Distress	Commitments to Animal Care Improvements
Training for all individuals handling live birds						• Video monitoring • Research into lairage systems • Controlled-atmosphere stunning system that eliminates transferring conscious birds onto a conveyor and shackling of conscious birds
Maximum time on the yard
Standards for holding shed comfort
Standards for loose bird control
Monitoring number of DOAs
Standards to minimize shackle distress
Standards for proper shackling technique
Emergency plan for power failure

Stun/Kill

Verified Processes	Freedom from Hunger and Thirst	Freedom from Discomfort	Freedom from Pain, Injury and Disease	Freedom to Express Normal Behavior	Freedom from Fear and Distress	Commitments to Animal Care Improvements
Effectiveness of stun						• Video monitoring • Controlled-atmosphere stunning system that ensures 100% of birds are rendered insensitive to pain before harvest, and that reduces injuries
Effectiveness of kill step
Standards for holding shed comfort
Zero tolerance for live bird entering the feather-removal scalder
Monitoring for wing injuries
Monitoring for leg injuries
Monitoring for paw health

Summary