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Animal welfare assessment and Labelling

Validation d’indicateurs de bien-être des agneaux issus de troupeaux allaitants et laitiers et des brebis laitières dans des systèmes de production français

By February 23, 2021March 10th, 2021No Comments

Document type : Article of the 25th Rencontres Recherche Ruminants

Authors: A. Aupiais, D. Gautier, M.-M. Mialon, A. Cheype, S. Masselin-Silvin, N. Devriendt, L. Ferran, S. Delaunay, X. Boivin

Summary: Respect for the welfare of farm animals is an important concern for many citizens and industry professionals. Following a literature review and a consultation with stakeholders in the field, indicators to evaluate the welfare of sheep (ewes and lambs) were selected for validation (feasibility and reproducibility tests among and between observers) in a total of 11 sheep farms (three dairy ewe farms, the MOUBIENE-Lait project; four fattening lambs from the dairy herd and four fattening lambs from the suckling herd, MOUBIENE project). The indicators were grouped according to the four principles of Welfare Quality: good feeding, suitable housing, good health and appropriate behaviours for the species. Measurements were taken at individual level (body condition, cleanliness of the hindquarters and fleece, lameness, ecthyma...) or at batch level (Qualitative Behaviour Assessment, human reaction test, suddenness test...) by two observers on two consecutive days. For certain indicators (injuries, cough, eye discharge...), the very low incidence did not allow statistical tests to be carried out. The inter- and intra-observer reproducibility for individual measurements, mostly health-related (qualitative data), was evaluated using Kappa coefficients (K). Inter-observer reproducibility for behavioural indicators (quantitative data) was assessed using intra-class correlation coefficients (CIC). Inter- and intra-observer reproducibility was generally good (Kappa>0.60) for most individual measurements, except for those that might be influenced by weather such as fleece moisture. Inter-observer reproducibility was also generally good for batch measurements. These two projects have thus provided the validation elements necessary to generate an initial list of indicators to assess the welfare of lambs and ewes in French farming systems. Some of the indicators on this list will be included in a tool to assess the welfare of small ruminants, which will be co-constructed by all stakeholders in the course of a project (CMOUBIENE) to be carried out in partnership with the sheep and goat sectors and to be financed by FranceAgriMer.

From the 3Rs website