Animal category: Cattle

Scientific review summarising and analysing the main uses of smart sensors, big data and deep learning for  the behavioural recognition and health monitoring of farm animals, with a focus on bovine lameness.

Scientific review on the benefits of combining ergonomics with applied ethology to study the links between animal welfare and the welfare of the livestock farmer. It proposes a new way of looking at the human-animal relationship in animal husbandry taking core concepts from both disciplines.

Article describing the history of how an experimental mobile abattoir system was developed by Emilie Jeannin in the Côte-d'Or.

A scientific review of the use of data-based variables to detect animal welfare violations on farms, highlighting the fact that some of these variables are related to animal-based welfare measures. It recommends that the variables should be harmonised in light of the data they use, and that preference should be given to those that reflect the multidimensional nature of animal welfare.

Article demonstrating that the French organic label guarantees higher animal welfare standards than conventional farming, providing access to outdoors, banning cage rearing and tethered systems, allowing only exceptional authorisation of non-medical surgical interventions, and requiring more frequent checks and compulsory stunning before slaughter. However, the legislation on transport and slaughter is still inadequate, even in the case of organic farming.

Press release presenting the results of the European Parliament's Committee of Inquiry into the protection of animals during transport. The committee recognised that EU rules on the protection of animals during transport are not always respected and that the welfare needs of animals during transport are not always met. It recommends limiting and better monitoring the export of live animals, developing meat-and-carcass transport and banning the transport of very young animals.

Report describing genome editing techniques, and critically analysing their potential use for livestock. It makes recommendations, in particular the need for a full scientific review of the literature before changing the UK regulations in this area and for a dialogue between scientists and the public on these issues.

A scientific review identifying the following risk factors for poor welfare in pasture-reared dairy calves (common to all rearing systems): perinatal mortality, poor passive transfer of immunity, poor pain management during disbudding and insufficient milk in the feed.  In addition, separation from the mother and the culling of male calves reduces the public acceptability of dairy farming. It makes recommendations for improving farming practices.

A scientific paper evaluating four sets of private health and welfare standards and associated quality assurance programmes in dairy cattle from Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK. It highlights transparency problems and calls for regulatory oversight of the use of these standards.

Scientific paper invesetigating the relationships between farmer satisfaction, animal welfare outcomes and the overall performance of small-scale dairy farms in the Eastern Alps.