Discipline: Veterinary

A method for calculating the external costs of farm animal welfare based on the Welfare Quality® Protocol

Luuk S. M. Vissers, Coen P. A. van Wagenberg, Willy H. M. Baltussen

Published in 2023

This article presents a method to estimate the external costs of farm animal welfare and thereby help decision-making for the development and adoption of more welfare-friendly production systems. It includes  a calculation for the relationship between animal welfare scores and the costs of animal welfare measures on farms. It has been tested and validated on a dairy cattle farm, a pig farm and a poultry farm.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines, Caprines, Ovines, Porcines, Poultry

Keywords: Modelling, One Welfare,Societal issues

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Models of Conditioned Reinforcement and Abnormal Behaviour in Captive Animals

Vera Vinken, Lena Lidfors, Jenny Loberg, Anna Lundberg, Johan Lind, Markus Jonsson, Stefano Ghirlanda, Magnus Enquist

Published in 2023

Scientific article proposing three models, including conditioned reinforcement, to study the complex relationships between environments, innate predispositions and learning in captive animals, which can lead to the development of stereotypies.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Wildlife

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Enrichment, Living environment, Human-animal relationships, Behavioural disorders, Societal issues

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Welfare of ducks, geese and quail on farm

EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Animal Welfare (AHAW Panel), Søren Saxmose Nielsen, Julio Alvarez, Dominique Joseph Bicout, Paolo Calistri, Elisabetta Canali, Julian Ashley Drewe, Bruno Garin-Bastuji, Jose Luis Gonzales Rojas, Christian Gortázar Schmidt, Mette Herskin, Virginie Michel, Miguel Ángel Miranda Chueca, Barbara Padalino, Paolo Pasquali, Helen Clare Roberts, Hans Spoolder, Karl Stahl, Antonio Velarde, Arvo Viltrop and Christoph Winckler

Published in 2023

Scientific opinion identifying the most common farming systems in the European Union for each species and category of animal. It describes and assesses the welfare consequences for each species of the following factors: restriction of movement, injury, group stress, inability to adopt comfort behavior, inability to adopt exploratory or foraging behavior and inability to express maternal behavior. It provides recommendations on how to predict negative welfare consequences using both quantitative and qualitative methods.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements,Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Consciousness, Pain, Risk management, Welfare indicators, Housing, Living environment, Mutilation, Human-animal relationships, Stress, Livestock farming system

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Welfare of dairy cows

EFSA Panel on Animal Health and Animal Welfare (AHAW) : Søren Saxmose Nielsen, Julio Alvarez, Dominique Joseph Bicout, Paolo Calistri, Elisabetta Canali, Julian Ashley Drewe, Bruno Garin-Bastuji, Jose Luis Gonzales Rojas, Christian Gort ́azar Schmidt, Mette Herskin, Virginie Michel, Miguel ́Angel Miranda Chueca, Barbara Padalino, Helen Clare Roberts, Hans Spoolder, Karl Stahl, Antonio Velarde, Arvo Viltrop, Alice De Boyer des Roches, Margit Bak Jensen, John Mee, Martin Green, Hans-Hermann Thulke, Elea Bailly-Caumette, Denise Candiani, Eliana Lima,Yves Van der Stede and Christoph Winckler

Published in 2023

EFSA opinion identifying the main types of housing for dairy cows in Europe and, for each, the main strengths, weaknesses and risks likely to reduce animal welfare. It examines five specific negative welfare consequences: locomotor disorders, mastitis, restricted movement and resting problems, inability to adopt comfort behavior and metabolic disorders. It also analyzes a set of farm characteristics that could be used to classify the level of welfare on farms.

Document Types: Opinions

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Animal-based measurements,Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Consciousness, Pain, Risk management, Welfare indicators, Housing, Living environment, Mutilation, Human-animal relationships, Stress, Livestock farming system

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Relevant Indicators of Consciousness after Waterbath Stunning in Turkeys and Stunning Efficiency in Commercial Conditions

Alexandra Contreras-Jodar, Aranzazu Varvaró-Porter, Antonio Velarde, Virginie Michel

Published in 2023

Scientific article evaluating the prevalence and repeatability among observers of the four most valid and usable indicators of consciousness after waterbath stunning in turkeys before bleeding (tonic convulsion, respiration, spontaneous blinking and vocalization) and during bleeding (wing beating, respiration, spontaneous swallowing and head shaking).

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Consciousness, Carcass quality, Stress

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Heat stress in horses: a literature review

Hyungsuk Kang, Rebeka R. Zsoldos, Albert Sole-Guitart, Edward Narayan, A. Judith Cawdell-Smith, John B. Gaughan

Published in 2023

Scientific review of the causes and consequences of heat stress in horses, how to prevent it, including ways to monitor body temperature and detect heat stress in its early stages, and how to deal with it.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords:Living environment, Stress

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Prevalence of lameness in dairy cows: A literature review

Peter T. Thomsen, Jan K. Shearer, Hans Houe

Published in 2023

Scientific review on global levels of lameness in dairy cows from 1989 to 2020, which it calculates to be 22.8%, with a median of 22.0%, a range between studies of 5.1% to 45%, and a range within the herd of 0% to 88%. It notes that levels have changed very little over time.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Pain, Livestock farming system

European Parliament: Written answer to question E-000948/23: Malnourished calves in Europe

Question: Sarah Wiener (Greens/EFA). Answer: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2023

Answer to a question concerning the failure by member states to transpose Directive 2008/119/EC with regard to standards for the protection of calves, in particular as regards the monitoring of their hemoglobin blood levels, their feeding and their transport.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Carcass quality, Transport,Societal issues

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European Parliament: Written answer to Question E-000940/23: Compliance with Directive 2008/120/EC on the welfare of pigs

Question: Margrete Auken (Greens/EFA). Answer: Ms Kyriakides on behalf of the European Commission

Published in 2023

Answer to a question concerning the date of publication of the assessment of Member States' national action plans for the prevention of routine tail docking in pigs, the decisions taken by the European Commission to ensure compliance with the regulatory ban on tail docking in this species, and the measures envisaged in the event of breaches of the regulations.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Pain, Societal issues, Mutilation

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Validation of Methods for Assessment of Dust Levels in Layer Barns

Solène Mousqué, Frédérique Mocz, Anja B. Riber

Published in 2023

Scientific paper on the development of a valid and routinely practicable method of measuring dust levels in layer barns that can be incorporated in veterinary inspections to meet European regulations.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Living environment

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