Keywords: Welfare indicators

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

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Final report - EFTA Surveillance Authority's audit to Norway from 31 October 2022 to 9 November 2022 on protection of laying hens and chickens kept for meat production

EU Commission

Published in 2023

Audit report from EFTA concluding that the  EEA legislation has been correctly transposed and implemented in Norway. Nevertheless, the recommendations made in previous audits have not been satisfactorily addressed. Official veterinarians do not receive sufficient training with the result that non-compliance is not properly detected.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Enrichment, Housing, Livestock farming system, Societal issues, Welfare indicators

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Visites sanitaires obligatoires dans la filière porcine : lancement de la campagne 2023-2024

French Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty

Published in 2023

Technical Instruction giving details on the implementation  of the 2023-24 on-farm visit programme for pig welfare.  The visits are intended to check that farmers are familiar with the relevant regulations, to give them advice tailored to their farms, to make them aware of the risks involved in tail docking and to remind them of the regulations concerning tail docking, on-farm welfare advisors and the cessation of castration of piglets without anaesthetic.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords: Working animals, Animal mediation, Enrichment, Risk management, Mutilation, Human-animal relationships, Pain,, Stress, Welfare indicators

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Welfare considerations for farming black soldier flies, Hermetia illucens (Diptera: Stratiomyidae): a model for the insects as food and feed industry

M. Barrett, S.Y. Chia , B. Fischer, J.K. Tomberlin

Published in 2023

Scientific review of factors that may influence the welfare of black soldier flies in commercial farming. It identifies the major issues and the farming conditions that cause them, suggesting areas for research to improve our understanding of the welfare of black soldier flies and, more generally, of farmed insects.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Insects

Keywords: Livestock farming system, Stress,Welfare indicators

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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, Livestock farming system

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Glucocorticoids in relation to behavior, morphology, and physiology as proxy indicators for the assessment of animal welfare. A systematic mapping review

Inga Tiemann, Lisa B. Fijn, Marc Bagaria, Esther M. A. Langen, F. Josef van der Staa3, Saskia S. Arndt, Cathalijn Leenaars, Vivian C. Goerlich

Published in 2023

A systematic review of the literature to determine whether glucocorticoid levels are a relevant indicator of animal welfare. It found that interventions that supposedly affect glucocorticoid levels do not always do so, and when they do, the changes in level are not always accompanied by changes in the associated welfare endpoints of behavior, morphology and physiology.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: All animals

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Welfare indicators, Stress

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Cognitive Enrichment and Welfare: Current Approaches and Future Directions

Fay E. Clark

Published in 2017

Scientific review of the different forms of cognitive enrichment that have been tested for laboratory, farm and zoo animals. It identifies research needs and proposes new indicators for testing.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Cattle, Goats, Wild animals, Sheep, Pigs, Rodents, Poultry

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Enrichment, Welfare indicators, Living environment

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Improving animal welfare status and meat quality through assessment of stress biomarkers: A critical review

Pavan Kumar, Muideen Adewale Ahmed, Abubakar Ahmed Abubakar, Muhammad Nizam Hayat, Ubedullah Kaka, Mokrish Ajat, Yong Meng Goh, Awis Qurni Sazili

Published in 2022

Scientific review of the various stress biomarkers most commonly used in animal husbandry and the factors that influence their expression. The focus is on the use of meat biomarkers, which would allow the non-invasive prediction of meat quality, but also on animal stress before slaughter.

Document Types: Scientific review

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

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Carcass quality, Welfare indicators

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Developing a tool to assess the health-related quality of life in calves with respiratory disease: content validation

D.J. Bell, B. Vigors, C.-A. Duthie, D.J. Bartram, A. Hancock, I. Odeyemi, C. Penny, M.J. Haskell

Published in 2022

Scientific article on the validation of the contents of a tool to measure health-related quality of life in calves with respiratory disease. Using a survey and focus groups, the authors evaluated the usefulness of 23 indicators with stakeholders. The following indicators were selected: nasal discharge, coughing, respiratory effort, eye appearance (discharge and brightness), body and head posture and ear position; movement towards feed, responsiveness, spatial proximity, volume of feed intake, motivation to feed and vitality.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Animal-based measurements, Welfare indicators

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National chicken council broiler welfare guidelines and audit checklist

National Chicken Council

Published in 2022

Two-yearly update of the NCC broiler welfare guidelines including key welfare indicators (including foot pad health, gait, reduction of leg and wing injuries), with a focus on bird behaviour, objective measures and welfare outcomes, enhanced training programs for proper handling of birds, and an improved audit tool.

Document Types: Good practice guide

Animal categories: Poultry

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

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