Document type : Scientific article

Qualitative Behavioral Assessment in Juvenile Farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar): Potential for On-Farm Welfare Assessment

Susan Jarvis, Maureen A. Ellis, James F. Turnbull, Sonia Rey Planellas, Francoise Wemelsfelder

Published in 2021

Scientific paper presenting an adaptation of the QBA qualitative welfare assessment method to farmed salmon and assessing its potential as a tool for monitoring salmon welfare.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Animal-based measurement, Livestock system, Welfare indicator

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Do You Think I Am Living Well? A Four-Season Hair Cortisol Analysis on Leisure Horses in Different Housing and Management Conditions

Silvia Michela Mazzola, Carla Colombani, Giulia Pizzamiglio, Simona Cannas, Clara Palestrini, Emanuela Dalla Costa, Alessia Libera Gazzonis, Arianna Bionda, Paola Crepaldi

Published in 2021

Scientific paper investigating the chronic stress levels of recreational horses in relation to their living conditions in order to determine the best management strategy for the welfare of the horses.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords:Housing, Living environment, Stress

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Cognition and the human-animal relationship: a review of the socio-cognitive skills of domestic mammals towards humans

Plotine Jardat, Léa Lansade

Published in 2021

Scientific review of 5 social-cognitive abilities possessed by domestic mammals in relation to humans: ability to distinguish between humans and recognise individuals;  perception of human emotions; interpretation of our attentional states and goals; use of referential communication (recognising human signals or sending signals to humans); and engagement in social learning with humans.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Keywords:Cognitive process, Human-animal relationships

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Does nutrient composition of feedstuffs affect the proportion of oral stereotypies and redirected behaviors among horse working groups?

Farah Hanis, Eric Lim Teik Chung, Mamat Hamidi Kamalludin, ZulkifliI drus

Published in 2021

Scientific paper demonstrating that ration composition and energy intake influence the incidence of oral stereotypies (especially empty chewing) and redirected behaviours (especially bedding consumption) in working horses (leisure, equestrian, patrol and endurance). Endurance horses are the most sensitive to ration composition.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords:Anxiety, Welfare indicators, Housing, Living environment, Stress, Psychiatric disorders

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Dairy farmer, hoof trimmer, and veterinarian perceptions of barriers and roles in lameness management

E.M. Wynands, S.M. Roche, G. Cramer, B.A. Ventura

Published in 2021

Scientific paper reporting on the perceptions of farmers' hoof trimmers and vets concerning the management of lameness in dairy cows. Lameness is perceived as a complex, multi-factorial problem that is poorly understood and whose contributing factors are difficult to change. Those involved are resigned, believing that lameness is inevitable. Participants suggested that hoof trimmers and veterinarians should work together to send a consistent message to farmers.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Pain, Human-animal relationships

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The Relationship between Animal Welfare and Antimicrobial Use in Italian Dairy Farms

Francesca Mazza, Federico Scali, Nicoletta Formenti, Claudia Romeo, Matteo Tonni, Giordano Ventura, Luigi Bertocchi, Valentina Lorenzi, Francesca Fusi, Clara Tolini, Gian Filippo Clemente, Federica Guadagno, Antonio Marco Maisano, Giovanni Santucci, Loredana Candela, Gianluca Antonio Romeo, Giovanni Loris Alborali

Published in 2021

Scientific paper to evaluate the relationship between levels of animal welfare and the use of antimicrobials in Italian dairy farms. No relationship could be found between these two factors. The use of category B antimicrobials and of intramammary treatments in dry cows were linked to levels of staff training.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Antibiotic resistance, Environment, Breeding and rearing systems, Societal issues

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The effect of pair housing on dairy calf health, performance, and behavior

Katarína Bučková, Radka Šárová, Ágnes Moravcsíková, Marek Špinka

Published in 2021

Scientific paper comparing animal-based indicators for health, productivity and behaviour in individually and pair-housed dairy calves. Housing type did not affect health, feed intake or weight gain, but individually-housed calves placed in a new pen scored higher on movement behaviour than pair-housed calves placed in a new pen. This rebound effect indicates that the individual housing of calves results in activity deprivation.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Housing, Living environment, Stress, Breeding and rearing systems, Welfare indicators

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The effects of farming systems (organic vs. conventional) on dairy cow welfare, based on the Welfare Quality® protocol

K. Wagner, J. Brinkmann, A. Bergschmidt, C. Renziehausen, S. Marcha

Published in 2021

Scientific article comparing the welfare levels of German conventional and organic dairy farms, using the Welfare Quality protocol. It shows that organic farms score better on the 4 main Welfare Quality principles, although there is wide variation between farms operating under the same farming system. Nevertheless, there is room for improvement on organic farms in the area of health.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Societal issues, Welfare indicators, Breeding and rearing systems

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Dogs distinguish human intentional and unintentional action

Britta Schünemann, Judith Keller, Hannes Rakoczy, Tanya Behne, Juliane Bräuer

Published in 2021

Scientific article on whether dogs are able to distinguish between situations where a human intentionally withholds a reward and those where the lack of reward is unintentional, resulting either from a mistake or a physical obstacle that prevents the reward being given. The results show that dogs clearly distinguish between intentional and unintentional behaviour.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Canine

Keywords:Learning, Awareness, Human-animal relationships

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Enhancing the value of meat inspection records for broiler health and welfare surveillance: longitudinal detection of relational patterns

S. N. Buzdugan, P. Alarcon, B. Huntington, J. Rushton, D. P. Blake, J. Guitian

Published in 2021

A scientific paper that uses data from UK abattoir broiler meat inspection records to highlight relationships between different conditions leading to condemnation of batches that would be useful for monitoring animal health and welfare. It highlights relationships that suggest the presence of syndromes in certain months of the year, potentially providing a basis on which to identify surveillance indicators for broiler producers to use.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Carcass quality, Processing

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