Sick Chickens, Bigger Carbon Footprint: How Diseases Affect Poultry Farming

Broiler chickens getting sick from pathogens like Eimeria and E. coli can really mess up their growth and make farming them worse for the environment. When chickens get these infections, they grow slower and need more food, which means they produce more carbon dioxide. This is bad news for both the chickens and the planet. Eimeria infections are particularly tough on chickens. They can slow down growth by up to 26% and make chickens eat more, increasing their carbon footprint by nearly 31% over their whole life. E. coli infections aren't as severe but still cause problems, slowing growth by up to 15% and increasing the carbon footprint by about 11%. In Germany alone, preventing these infections could save a huge amount of carbon dioxide each year. For Eimeria, it could be up to 447, 000 metric tons, and for E. coli, up to 416, 000 metric tons. That's a lot of pollution that could be avoided just by keeping chickens healthy. Keeping chickens healthy isn't just good for the chickens; it's good for the environment too. Better hygiene and careful use of medicines can help prevent these infections and make poultry farming more sustainable. It's a win-win situation: healthier chickens and a cleaner planet.