Chicken Behaviour and Welfare

chicken and hen

With a focus on laying hens and meat chickens, this course explains the general principles of chicken behaviour and welfare, and the behavioural and physiological indicators that can be used to assess welfare in chickens kept in hobby flocks through to commercial farms.  

At the end of this course, you will be able to:  

  • describe avian sensory perception and motivation 
  • explain poultry behaviour patterns 
  • define welfare standards
  • assess and understand chicken welfare.  

This course will be of interest to people who own chickens, commercial egg and meat producers, veterinarians and vet nurses. 

View course on Coursera

This course is hosted on an external learning platform.

I am a hobby farmer with a small flock, but I really enjoyed learning about all aspects of chicken welfare as it pertains to both small and large scale operations.
Summary
  • Type of course
    Short course: Study a subject through videos, articles, discussions or quizzes.
  • Cost and certification
    Free, with option to upgrade for a certificate
  • Duration
    5 weeks
  • Weekly effort
    2-3 hours
  • Difficulty level
    Introductory: No previous knowledge required
  • Learning platform
    Coursera
    coursera logo