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Page 6 %u2013 National Poultry Newspaper, January 2025 www.poultrynews.com.auREFLECTING seems almost right for the first of my 2025 monthly columns.Tips for chickens in 2025 is too high risk for me, so reflection only it is.Hence below are snippets from each of the 12 months of 2024, beginning with January 2024.These may act as a reminder of the issues industry faced in 2024 or simply as a refresher as to what was on my mind at the time. You may wish to ponder on my thoughts. By all means let this publication know if you strongly agree or disagree, though be willing to share your thoughts publicly, keeping them polite and informative. I%u2019ll begin each extract with its published headline. Be advised, the snippets are not necessarily from the opening paragraphs of the columns.Managing avian influenzaThough a scary and lurking threat here, Australia remains free from HPAI H5N1. While avian influenza outbreaks have previously occurred here, they%u2019ve been caused by domestic strains that have evolved to become highly pathogenic rather than an incursion from globally circulating HPAI strains.Clucking chicken call signsIn the study, accepted and published last November in Royal Society Open Science, researchers investigated whether humans could correctly identify the context of calls or clucking sounds made by domestic chickens, the most commonly farmed species in the world. %u201cWe found 69 percent of all participants could correctly tell if a chicken sounded excited or displeased,%u201d Professor Henning said. Dozens of choices when it comes to eggsMost customers, including myself, set out with personal boundaries when shopping for animal products, particularly for eggs. Those boundaries might encompass concerns about animal welfare, price points and health and diet implications, with all often mired in the plethora of social media commentary that we must digest, discern and then act on%u2026 or not!Systematic packaging can crack egg choicesI had suggested that how eggs were packaged, branded and presented at retail outlets was highly persuasive when it came to how consumers decided on production system preference. This was often due to clever, colourful and sometimes questionable imagery on cartons.Formidable females flourish in welfareI now know that International Women%u2019s Day is a global day recognising and celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. How this event could ever have been labelled a cause celebre or bone of contention is beyond me. It also marks, I understand, a call to action for speeding up women%u2019s equality. That the spinning wheels of sexual equality should even need to be sped up is rather damning %u2013 sorry to say this to you %u2018backward folks%u2019 out there.Poultry penned in picturesI cook chicken regularly and enjoy poultrybased products in my home and when out. Also, I promote chicken%u2019s many virtues to the unfamiliar and unconvinced, even going so far as trying to turn vegetarians. I don%u2019t bother with vegans%u2026 too many agendas running there.Committing to better chicken welfareNumerous companies across Europe, spanning retailers to restaurants and catering businesses, have already signed up to Better Chicken Commitment, a framework of standards promoted by animal welfare nongovernment organisations to enhance animal welfare, which exceeds current European Union legislation. BCC commits its signatories to apply several requirements such as the use of slower growing chicken breeds, lower stocking density and use of enrichment tools, to 100 percent of their fresh, frozen and processed poultry supply chain by 2026.Ducks always in my sightsDucks have fascinated me since I was a young boy, when helping Dad kill, pluck and gut our Muscovies. I confess, while I never helped Mum cook them, I certainly helped eat them. When it came to eating ducks, out of bounds in our backyard were a few random colourful characters known as Khaki Campbells. More or less pets and valued as snail snatchers, they weren%u2019t up to roasting standard, so were reprieved from visiting the bloodied chopping block %u2013 a jarrah stump with two strategically spaced nails.Australian meat chickens to taste better livesWhile most of the attention on chicken welfare in Australia is on egg layers, now is the time to shift that dial and create a better living standard for broilers. A barrier burning away in the background is a gob-smacking low level of public awareness about meat chicken welfare. Most poultry purchasers don%u2019t know the difference between meat chickens and layers. So, correcting that is what welfare lobbyists need to crack before they can successfully shift shoppers to change their buying decisions when it comes to chicken meat.Block broods over broilersLet%u2019s hope consumers think before they buy and have higher welfare choices available to them when it comes to plating up chicken. Meat from happy healthy chickens, preferably pasture-raised, is the way to go. Broilers breaking down due to poor genetics is not.International and national days of our livesGovernments, the private sector, farmers, academia, civil society and individuals must work together to ensure there is a greater variety of nutritious, affordable, accessible, safe and sustainable foods in order to achieve food security and healthy diets for all. It%u2019s really that obvious and that basic.AAA battery rating for Australian Alliance for AnimalsBattery cages for layer hens should have no place in our egg production system. Sure, I hear the many claims by battery cage proponents, including that banning them will mean reduced productivity and likely higher prices for consumers. But those advocates are clearly tone deaf. Increasingly, the more the public sees and understands what the lives of hens in battery cages look like, the more they will refuse to shell out for eggs laid under such brutal conditions.Meanwhile, my best wishes to everyone for 2025. It%u2019s sure to be yet another big year. Cant Comment welcomes commentsCantCommentby BRENDON CANTSTRENGTHENYOUR FLOCK.Defend against the risk of infectious diseases with Poulvac%u00ae E. coli. As part of a complete respiratory immunisation program, it helps stop E.coli and colibacillosis before they can diminishbird performance and cause costly processinglosses. Get the strength to help protect yourbirds and your bottom line.For more information call Zoetis ProductSupport on 1800 814 883 or contact your localZoetis Professional Sales Representative.Zoetis Australia Pty Ltd. ABN 94 156 476 425. Level 6, 5 Rider Boulevard, Rhodes NSW 2138. %u00a9 2024 Zoetis Inc. All rights reserved. ZL1956While the author has no chicken tips for 2025, his dog has!Let%u2019s hope all in the chicken industry put their best feet forward in 2025.