New requirements for chicken meat producers

Meat chickens in barns must have access to substrate (such as litter). Producers with chickens in free-range systems already meet this requirement.

Substrate is a loose or friable material suitable for pecking, foraging and scratching. For example, it can include:

• feed pellets
• organic litter materials, such as wood shavings, rice hulls, chopped straw or sawdust
• grass, soil or dirt on an outdoor range (such as in a free-range system)
• pecking blocks or stones.

• Meat chickens must not be exposed to continuous light or darkness for any 24-hour period. This is except for chicks raised under heat lamps or in brooders.

• Chicks up to 1 week old must have a minimum of 1 hour of continuous darkness for any 24-hour period. This is except when raised under heat lamps or in brooders.
• Once chicks reach 1 week old, they must be provided with a minimum of 4 hours of continuous darkness with 6 hours of total darkness each day. An exception is on the day of pick-up (the day hens are removed at the end of their production cycle) or during very hot weather.
• Sheds must have a light intensity of at least 10 lux at bird level during light periods. This is except under veterinary supervision to control an outbreak of pecking or cannibalism.

Note: light intensity during light periods for chicks for the first 3 days after hatching must be at least 20 lux at bird level. This is a current recommendation², which will be mandatory (legally required) in Victoria.

Space allowances

Meat chickens must have enough space to:

• stand
• turnaround
• flap their wings
• all sit at the same time.

Maximum stocking densities must not exceed those shown in the table below:

Note: Winter pick-up is from 1 April to 30 September. Summer pick-up is from 1 October to 31 March.

Additional monitoring

These requirements apply to meat chickens that are:

• over 10 days old
• kept at a stocking density greater than 34 kg per m2.

Levels must be monitored and recorded daily. These include:

• stocking densities
• relative humidity
• ammonia levels
• maximum temperature levels.

Records can be in any format (written or digital). They must be kept for a minimum of 2 years.

Stocking densities must be reduced if all the following measures for 3 consecutive days exceed:

• a relative humidity of 70% ,
• a temperature of 32°C , and
• ammonia levels of 15 ppm.

Note: additional steps to reduce ammonia levels can include:

• ensuring ventilation is operating effectively
• keeping litter dry.

For poultry housed in sheds, ammonia levels must be monitored and recorded. Corrective action must be taken if levels exceed 15 ppm at bird level.

Actions to reduce ammonia levels can include:

• ensuring ventilation is operating effectively
• keeping litter dry
• reducing stocking densities.

Note: records can be in any format (written or digital). They must be kept for a minimum of 2 years.

Mechanically ventilated sheds must:

• be fitted with a back-up power supply, tested in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommendations

• have an automatic alarm system that immediately warns of ventilation failure.

Corrective action must be taken if there are ventilation faults.

If a veranda (an enclosed roofed area attached to a building or shed) is provided, it must be designed, constructed and maintained to encourage chickens to use it. The veranda must provide:

• adequate shade and shelter
• adequate air exchange to manage airflow, temperature, humidity and dust
• suitable substrate.

These changes apply to chickens that can access outdoor range areas external to fixed or mobile sheds.

Reasonable action must be taken to minimise access to poultry feed and drinking water by wild birds. This helps prevent the spread of diseases.

Chickens with access to an outdoor area must be encouraged to use it by being provided with:

• a reasonable number and size of access points
• access to appropriately located shade
• shelter from predators
• opportunities for birds to forage and scratch.

Note: chickens must be adequately feathered before going outdoors.

• Water must be available until the start of pick-up.
• Incubators must be monitored during hatching. Hatchlings that are found outside the trays must be quickly returned to the tray or placed in brooders.
• Meat chickens must not be plucked. This is except to remove a small area of feathers for a medical or surgical procedure.
• Toe trimming must not be performed on chickens, unless under veterinary advice.
• If it is permitted and necessary to carry out a painful procedure on meat chickens, such as trimming an older bird’s beak, appropriate pain relief must be administered. This is where a suitable product is registered and available.

A written contingency plan must be developed. This is to minimise the impact of adverse events on poultry welfare in all types of production systems.  

Adverse events relate to extreme weather, natural disasters, disease, injury and predation. They can include:

• electrical power or systems failure
• breakdown or mechanical failure affecting feed, water or ventilation
• adverse weather, specifically conditions that expose poultry to heat or cold stress
• fire and flood
• insufficient supply of feed or water
• disease outbreak or injury
• emergency killing and disposal
• other issues specific to the enterprise or poultry being managed.

Where it is necessary to euthanise meat chickens, a person must:

• have the relevant knowledge, experience and skills to be able to humanely kill chickens or be under the direct supervision of someone who does. This is unless the poultry are suffering and need to be killed to prevent undue suffering or there is an unreasonable delay until direct supervision is available.
• take reasonable action to confirm the chicken is dead
• not use equipment that crushes a chicken’s neck
• not spin a chicken by their head to cause cervical dislocation.

Note: the humane killing of poultry is necessary if a bird is suffering from severe distress, disease or injury that cannot be reasonably treated, or there is no prospect of recovery. Killing poultry should be done promptly, safely and humanely.

Requirements until early 2026

The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Domestic Fowl) Regulations 2016¹ set out the mandatory (legal) requirements.

Recommendations until early 2026

The Victorian Code of Accepted Farming Practice for the Welfare of Poultry² includes guidance.

Requirements from early 2026

New poultry welfare regulations will replace the current Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Domestic Fowl) Regulations 2016.These regulations will introduce new mandatory (legal) requirements for keeping and housing chickens.

Recommendations from early 2026

The guidelines in the Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines for Poultry will provide the recommended practices.

The Victorian Code of Accepted Farming Practice for the Welfare of Poultry will no longer apply.

Note: many of the current recommendations will now become mandatory (legal) requirements under the new regulations.