Despite societal concerns about the welfare of commercial laying hens, little attention has been paid to the welfare implications of the choices made by the genetics companies involved with their breeding. These choices regarding trait selection and other aspects of breeding significantly affect living conditions for the more than 7 billion laying hens in the world. However, these companies must consider a number of different commercial and societal interests, beyond animal welfare concerns. In this article we map some of the relevant dilemmas faced by genetics companies in order to outline the scope of opportunities to improve welfare under current market conditions. This includes identifying cases where different animal welfare concerns conflict. We discuss the moral responsibility of laying hen genetics companies and the welfare implications that derive from the choices they make and the policies they follow. In addition to evaluating a selection of predominant current practices and breeding goals, we outline different angles from where to assess the moral legitimacy of various industry practices and policies. We discuss specific issues such as injurious pecking, bone health, induced moulting, chick culling and the circumstances of breeding stock.

中文翻译：

---

蛋鸡遗传学伦理

尽管社会关注商业蛋鸡的福利，但很少关注参与育种的遗传公司所做选择对福利的影响。这些关于性状选择和育种其他方面的选择显着影响了世界上超过 70 亿只蛋鸡的生活条件。然而，这些公司必须考虑许多不同的商业和社会利益，而不仅仅是动物福利问题。在本文中，我们绘制了遗传公司面临的一些相关困境，以概述在当前市场条件下改善福利的机会范围。这包括确定不同动物福利关注冲突的案例。我们讨论了蛋鸡遗传公司的道德责任，以及他们所做的选择和他们所遵循的政策对福利的影响。除了评估一些主要的当前做法和育种目标之外，我们还概述了评估各种行业做法和政策的道德合法性的不同角度。我们讨论了具体问题，例如有害啄食、骨骼健康、诱导换羽、小鸡扑杀和种畜的情况。