Welfare of laying hens: code of practice

Record keeping

Schedule 1, paragraph 7 of the Welfare of Farmed Animals (Scotland) Regulations 2010 (S.S.I. 2010 No. 388) states that a record must be maintained of:

• any medicinal treatment given to animals; and
• the number of mortalities found on each inspection of animals

Schedule 1, paragraph 8 of the Welfare of Farmed Animals (Scotland) Regulations 2010 (S.S.I. 2010 No. 388) states that the record referred to in paragraph 7 must be retained for a period of at least 3 years from the date on which the medicinal treatment was given, or the date of the inspection, as the case may be, and must be made available to an inspector on request.

19 Records are an essential aid to management and those kept should include feed and water consumption, egg quality, health checks, behavioural abnormalities, maximum and minimum temperatures and ammonia levels.

20 Mortality, culling and, if possible, morbidity levels should be closely monitored. Autopsies should be carried out in cases where mortality levels are significant or higher than breeders' targets. Records should be kept of all these results.