Farm Certification Standards
Our science-based standards and tools help ensure farm animals receive the care they deserve through regular expert review and third-party auditing.
The American Humane Certified™ Animal Welfare Standards are species-specific and grounded on solid scientific research. The standards were created with input from renowned animal science experts and veterinarians and are frequently reviewed by our Scientific Advisory Committee to reflect current research, technological advances and humane handling methods.
Our Animal Welfare Standards are based upon the guiding principles of the Five Domains of Animal Welfare. With rigorous, science-based standards covering everything from adequate space to air and water quality, heating, lighting, shade and the animals’ ability to engage in natural behaviors. American Humane Certified producers are audited for their compliance to the standards. Our audit tools, full standards and supplemental templates are fully transparent and can be downloaded below.

Beef Cattle
Audit Tool
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Animal Care Standards
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Bison

Broiler Chickens
Broiler Chicken Documentation Resources and Templates
Use these resources and templates to support consistent documentation of welfare standards.

Dairy Cattle

Dairy Goats

Dairy Sheep
Dairy Sheep Fact Sheets
Use these fact sheets to help support welfare standards.

Ducks (Meat and Egg Layers)
Audit Tool
Translations

Hatcheries
Audit Tool
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Layers (Cage Free)
Audit Tool
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Animal Care Standards
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Layers (Free Range and Pasture)
Audit Tool
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Layers (Free Range and Pasture) Documentation Template
Use this template to collect and organize the required information ahead of the audit.

Swine
Swine Documentation Resources and Templates
Use these resources and templates to support consistent documentation of welfare standards.

Turkeys
Audit Tool
Translations
Animal Care Standards
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General Auditor Tools
Additional Resources
Supplemental resources from leading veterinary and agricultural organizations to support your animal care practices.
News and updates
Stay up to date on farm animal welfare best practices, certified producer spotlights and the research that informs our work with our news and updates. View all