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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Chicken Behaviour and Welfare by The University of Edinburgh

4.8
stars
1,130 ratings

About the Course

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. The focus is primarily on laying hens and meat chickens (broilers) although many of the principles are relevant to other types of poultry. The course is likely to be of interest to people who own chickens as pets or keep a small hobby flock, commercial egg and chicken meat producers, veterinarians and vet nurses. Learning Objectives: at the end of this course, you will be able to - - Describe avian sensory perception and motivation - Explain the main behaviour patterns of poultry - Define welfare and explain the bases of welfare standards - Assess chicken welfare, using behavioural and physiological means - Understand common welfare problems of chickens This course is taught by staff from Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), University of Glasgow, and St David's Poultry Team. You can follow us on Twitter! #chickenmooc © University of Edinburgh and Scotland's Rural College 2016 CC BY...

Top reviews

NT

Jul 30, 2021

Thank you very much to the instructor at Duke University. This course has taught me a great deal of information. Things that I never knew before, it was interesting and rewarding. Thank you very much.

RT

Feb 28, 2024

This course is well taught and I really enjoyed how they broke up the modules into little comprehensible lessons. I learned a lot. I wish there was more material because it was an interesting course.

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326 - 350 of 406 Reviews for Chicken Behaviour and Welfare

By Emma N

•

Apr 6, 2020

brill

By Manuel D

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Mar 23, 2021

Good

By MougaZ S H

•

Mar 13, 2021

دورة

By S. S

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Jun 14, 2020

good

By Kyros T

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Apr 4, 2020

Nice

By Adam A

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Jul 17, 2022

i

By Aleksandar M

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May 22, 2022

This course offers a very specific set of knowledge. It provides the most essential, scientifically valid information one needs to farm chicken. Videos are short and informative, although kind of dry, like a talking textbook. More practical information would be helpful. Weekly quizzes are surprisingly challenging, and I failed most of them on my first attempt. Information provided in the video lectures is sufficient, but very condensed, so make sure to pay attention and take notes. Additional literature is helpful, but not necessary in order to pass the quiz.

Overall, it's a very neat course and useful as the first source of information for the future chicken farmers. There's room for improvement, but I can recommend it nevertheless.

By Kiri G

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Feb 15, 2024

Some good info, and the prof was well-spoken! I wish the captions were correct, as I rely on them for a lot of these videos. It would be helpful to post a notice before a video to let viewers know if a proper transcript follows - this would be less confusing than spending 5 minutes trying to figure out what was being based on faulty captions. More visual aids in general would be helpful (ex show pics of different egg deformities while describing them). I also feel like there must be enough pictures of chickens out there that they shouldn't need to use pictures of ducks "for demonstration". Most, if not all, of the Youtube links do not work so I feel as though I missed out on a lot of content.

By Georgia W

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Jun 4, 2020

I've kept a small backyard flock of ex-commercial hens for several years, and am generally interested in animal behaviour as a whole. I learnt a lot about the husbandry of chickens and some aspects of the behaviour from this course. If I have a small criticism, it would be that I would have liked a little bit more of an in depth examination of the behavioural side of things. Structurally, the course was delivered clearly and competently, although I feel it could have used a few more explanatory pictures, videos and diagrams to accompany the lectures. I did enjoy the attempt made by the automated subtitle program to try to translate the Scottish dude: that gave me a good laugh!

By Kailie K

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Sep 28, 2023

Very informative and easy to follow. I wish it focused more on chicken behaviour in detail, such as concerning vs. normal behaviours, as well as when they're sick vs. cold or just resting. However, I feel like I gained a lot of knowledge about the poultry industry, how it works, and how to make my backyard chickens lives better. It was very informative about all stages of chickens lives and the different needs and types of chickens. I would 100% recommend. My only negative is that the last lesson is a sad subject and leaves the course on a sad note. That's just me being emotional about my chickens though haha!

By Emlynn C

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Jul 1, 2017

Course was very dense but well organized so that this 6 week long course can be knocked out in a weekend. Has a lot of different views on methods of poultry farming that are all treated with respect and is a great way to learn the basics of poultry whether it's for commercial or backyard production. Only complaints are that it's test-only, no written or free answer exercises (which may be par for coursera, I wouldn't know) and that treatment options for a few common illnesses/injuries/abnormalities such as being egg bound or egg eating were not discussed

By Johan T

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Jun 17, 2016

Very interesting course. Truly enjoyed studying the behaviour of the animals I started appreciating a lot. Nevertheless 4 out of 5 stars because I felt the course is typically focusing on the large scale agro industrial side more then the (increasing number) of small scale/hobby keepers. Also I would have loved to learn more about typical chicken health care issues and how to prevent. All in all very informative and definitely a course I recommend!

By Lara G

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Apr 29, 2021

Very straightforward and simple, but detailed and informative. There was a problem understanding the accent for two of the videos from a person not native to Scotland. Otherwise, it is very fascinating and changed my perception of chickens and their care. I also learned why knowing welfare and management of chickens is important for a veterinarian. I learned plenty of information to better care for chickens on for my own personal farming.

By Julián C

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Feb 28, 2019

Me fue de muchísima utilidad para mi proceso de enriquecimiento en mi carrera de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia, gracias a que abarca todos los aspectos básicos que acarrean un adecuado bienestar y el consiguiente rendimiento de las aves en los sistemas de explotación existentes. Lo único que echo en falta es más imágenes y/o vídeos explicatorias, en vez de ver a la experta en el área hablando la mayor parte del tiempo.

By Charlotte G

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Jul 30, 2016

A very informative and interesting course, a good cover of both behaviour and welfare. Each section was explained well, so no background knowledge was required. I appreciated the additional video content to explain concepts. I would have liked a little more information on disease and nutrition but I understand it is difficult to cover everything in a short course.

By Michelle B W

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Jan 10, 2020

This course was extremely interesting and informative, with any technical or complex terms explained. It would have been useful to have more images in the videos to further explain each point, such as examples of the different slaughter methods, etc. I'd highly recommend this course for anyone with an interest in chickens, either personal or professional.

By Alaskas J

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Oct 2, 2020

Interesting and in depth, though I take one star off as I can't shake the feeling that week 5 is almost entirely propaganda paid off by large scale poultry farms.

Free range is entirely more humane, birds need sunshine, fresh air, grass, and dirt. That isn't to say free range is completely humane, as NO commercial poultry farm will ever be humane.

By Paul M

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Apr 12, 2020

I enjoyed this course thank you. As a suggested improvement for future courses; access to transcripts for all videos would be a great learning aid. I would be very interested in participating in a similar course focusing on Broiler Behaviour and Welfare - from hatchery to slaughter. Thanks again. Kind regards. Paul Morrell

By Marian v d K

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Apr 18, 2017

I really enjoyed the course. I hope to see more animal specific behaviour and welfare courses in the future.

This course mostly covered parts of the poultry industry, I would have enjoyed it even more if non commercial farming was included, like chickens at home or at the children's farm.

By Pauline B

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Dec 14, 2016

Honestly, I am absolutely delighted to have access to that course. Information is reliable, strong, you can have access to a huge number of articles, studies... It is well structured. My only regret, is that there is a lack of actual images of the actions and the process described.

By Vivien D

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Sep 16, 2021

As a keeper of backyard hens I learnt a lot about the health, wellbeing and ways to improve our set up for our hens. The ethical questions raised in terms of consumption of chicken and eggs certainly need ongoing consideration for all consumers

By Susanne G

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Aug 11, 2020

Great content. Personally would have preferred the content to be more geared towards backyard breeders but overall good balance on welfare topics vs caring for chickens at home. Could be a little bit more technical/detailed & challenging.

By Noah B

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Feb 20, 2020

The content was of the course was exceptional and easy to follow. Despite my hectic work schedules, the presentation of the course made it easy to pick up where I left off and enabled me to complete this amazing course. Many thanks.

By Dirk C B

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Jan 24, 2017

The individual lectures are kept short and the exams at the end of the week felt "fair".

The course itself is very informative and comprehensive . I learned a lot and I feel somehow ok prepared to keep a few backyard chicken :)

By Jordan K

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May 2, 2017

Generally pretty well put together. There were more then a few times some of the videos probably should have been combined into one, so as to be less cluttered. Otherwise overall a pretty pleasant experience.