Keyword : Adaptation of the animal to the environment

Welfare of laying hens on farm

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 S Herskin, Miguel Ángel Miranda Chueca, Virginie Michel, Barbara Padalino, Paolo Pasquali, Helen Clare Roberts, Hans Spoolder, Karl Stahl and Antonio Velarde

Published in 2023

EFSA opinion identifying the most important factors impacting on the welfare of laying hens: bone lesions, group stress, inability to avoid unwanted sexual behavior, inability to engage in comfort behavior, inability to engage in exploratory or foraging behavior, isolation stress, predation stress, resting problems, movement restriction, skin disorders, soft tissue lesions and integument lesions. It proposes animal-based measures to assess them, and sets out the risks related to different farming systems. Measures to prevent risks and mitigate welfare consequences are proposed. Recommendations are made to address specific welfare issues for laying hens.

Document Types: Opinions

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Animal adaptation to the environment, Animal-based measurement, Consciousness, Enrichment, Risk management, Housing, Living environment, Human-animal relationships, Human-animalmutilation, Stress, Farming systems, Societal issues, Pain

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Welfare of broilers on farm

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 S Herskin, Miguel Ángel Miranda Chueca, Virginie Michel, Barbara Padalino, Paolo Pasquali, Helen Clare Roberts, Hans Spoolder, Karl Stahl and Antonio Velarde

Published in 2023

EFSA opinion that identifies 19 major welfare consequences for broilers, animal-based measures to assess them, risks related to different farming systems and animal-based measures to assess them. Measures to prevent risks and mitigate welfare consequences are proposed. Recommendations are made to address specific welfare issues for broilers. Indicators for monitoring the welfare of broilers at slaughter are proposed.

Document Types: Opinions

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Animal adaptation to the environment, Animal-based measurement, Consciousness, Enrichment, Risk management, Housing, Living environment, Human-animal relationships, Human-animalmutilation, Stress, Farming systems, Societal issues, Pain

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Dietary fiber and its role in performance, welfare, and health of pigs

: Ł. Grześkowiak , E.-M. Saliu , B. Martínez-Vallespín , J. R. Aschenbach , G. A. Brockmann, M. Fulde , S. Hartmann , B. Kuhla , R. Lucius , C. C. Metges , H. J. Rothkötter , W. Vahjen , A. G. Wessels, J. Zentek

Published in 2023

Scientific review on the use of dietary fiber for sows, piglets and fattening pigs, and its positive aspect on health and welfare if ration concentrations are respected and if their fermentability is taken into account. Little is known about their effects on intestinal function and gut microbiota.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment

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Looking beyond the Shoal: Fish Welfare as an Individual Attribute

Lauri Torgerson-White, Walter Sánchez-Suárez

Published in 2022

Scientific review on the current status of welfare assessment methods in aquaculture, comparing them with those for terrestrial animals, and offering recommendations for future research that would allow account to be taken of fish welfare at the level of the individual.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Fish

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

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Assessing welfare risks in unowned unsocialised domestic cats in Denmark based on associations with low body condition score

Søren Saxmose Nielsen, Ida Sofie Thuesen, Helena Mejer, Jørgen Steen Agerholm, Stine Thorsø Nielsen, Pikka Jokelainen, Stig Milan Thamsborg, Peter Sandøe

Published in 2023

Scientific paper showing that there is a co-occurrence of a low body condition score (BCS) and health factors in unsocialized, ownerless domestic cats in Denmark. These factors include the presence of skin and ear ectoparasites, gastrointestinal disorders, dental lesions, and a positive FIV test. The authors conclude that a low CCN may indicate more than the stage of emaciation,also indicating less visible welfare impairments.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Felines

Keywords:Abandonment, Animal adaptation to the environment, Adoption, Societal issues, Population management

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Behavior of dairy cows managed outdoors in winter: Effects of weather and paddock soil conditions

Heather W. Neave, Karin E. Schütz, Dawn E. Dalley

Published in 2022

A scientific paper to determine the effects of weather and paddock soil conditions on the lying, feeding and rumination behavior of dairy cows kept in the open during winter. The authors show that in bad weather or muddy soil conditions, resting periods were shortened or even non-existent. They suggest that previous rainfall events and the presence of surface water should be used as indicators that resting times, and hence the welfare of outdoor dairy cows, may be negatively impacted.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

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

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Revision of animal transport legislation - an essential part of the food production - Information from the Portuguese delegation on behalf of the French, Greek, Irish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Portuguese, Romanian and Spanish delegations

General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union

Published in 2023

Information note from eight European Union countries, including France, opposing the ban on the transport of live animals from member countries. The reasons given are 1. that this would favour imports from third countries with less stringent animal welfare standards, and 2. the difficulty of maintaining the cold chain when transporting meat. The eight countries recommend that enforcement of EU legislation should be strengthened and EU expertise should be shared with third countries to improve animal welfare during transport.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

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

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Societal issues, Stress, Transportation

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White paper - Chick and duckling killing: achieving an EU-wide prohibition

Alice Di Concetto, Olivier Morice, Matthias Corion, Simão Santos

Published in 2023

White paper setting out slaughter methods, figures for the killing of day-old male chicks and female ducklings in the European Union, current alternatives (in ovo sexing, use of dual lines), and describing the European initiatives, both citizen and institution-led, to put an end to the grinding of chicks and ducklings.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Animal adaptation to the environment, Consciousness, Pain, Societal issues, Human-animal relationship, Stress, Farming system

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Extrait du rapport d’un audit effectué par la DG SANTE et sécurité alimentaire concernant l’Espagne du 10 au 27 mai 2022 afin d ’évaluer la protection des veaux non sevrés pendant les longs trajets

DG SANTE, European Commission

Published in 2023

DG SANTE audit report concluding that, despite numerous checks on livestock transport carried out by the Spanish authorities, as implemented, these official controls made it impossible to either verify or confirm compliance with welfare requirements for the transport of unweaned calves over long distances.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Animal adaptation to the environment, Animal-based measurement, Societal issues, Human-animal relationship, Stress, Transportation

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Is a mounted award ceremony in equestrian sport relevant to animal welfare?

H. Gehlen, C. Thöne-Reineke, R. Merle, S. Pichon, H. Linnenbrügger

Published in 2023

Scientific article providing the results of a survey of competitive and show riders on the risks of damage to the welfare of horses, riders and spectators during equestrian award ceremonies. Riders feel greater stress during warm-up and competition than during the award ceremony, while horses display the greatest stress during the lap of honor. Risk of injury, mostly in the form of kicking by stressed horses, is considered to be higher during prize giving.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords:Animal adaptation to the environment, Anxiety, Societal issues, Risk management, Fear, Human-animal relationship, Stress

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