Keywords: Mutilation

Prévenir la douleur chez le porc

IFIP/Chambres Agriculture/INRA/ RMT animal welfare

Published in 2018

The document contains 16 practical fact sheets to help producers to master tail cutting techniques that reduce the pain experienced by the piglet and to carry out actions to mitigate the risk factors for tail biting, or prevent them arising

Document Types: Technical review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords: Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Animal-based measurements, Anxiety, Pain, Enrichment, Welfare indicators, Housing, Memory, Mutilation, Neurogenesis, Fear, Cognitive processes, Resilience

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A European guide to establishing supply chains for whole or immunocastrated male pigs (English version)

European Commission

Published in 2018

Rearing: the guide includes reports of on-farm experiments to limit the occurrence of boar taint or to achieve 100% immuno-vaccination in males.
Abattoirs: the survey of methods to detect carcasses with boar taint indicates that the majority of supply chains involved use the "human nose" method, following rigorous protocols. Danish scientists report that an objective technique for quantifying malodorous molecules is being developed in an abattoir.
Curing: alternative uses for the small percentage of carcasses with boar taint are set out.
Changing practices: Last, examples of supply chains that have wholly or partially ceased surgical castration highlight the key role of retail sales personnel in promoting product chains that follow the specifications and in making consumers aware of them.

Document Types: Good practice guide

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords: Societal issues, Risk management, Mutilation, Carcass quality, Processing

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Y a-t-il des alternatives à la castration chirurgicale des porcelets ?

A. PRUNIER, M. BONNEAU

Published in 2006

The review discusses alternatives to the surgical castration of male pigs, which protects consumers from strong smelling meat (boar taint) but which is carried out in some cases without anesthesia.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords: Pain, Societal issues, Risk management, Welfare indicators, Mutilation, Carcass quality, Stress, Livestock farming system

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Ecorner les jeunes bovins efficacement, facilement et sans douleur

Anne Aupiais and Béatrice Mounaix (idele), Marylise Le Guenic and Guylaine Trou (CRAB), Alice deBoyer des Roches (VetAgroSup)

Published in 2016

The dehorning of calves is a practice that can be difficult for farmers. Managing the pain and inflammation caused by this procedure can make it less stressful, not only for the farmer but also for the animals. This booklet provides up-to-date information on good dehorning practices.

Document Types: Good practice guide

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Pain, Mutilation

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Castration des bovins : Des conseils pour améliorer la prise en charge de la douleur des veaux et la sécurité des intervenants

A. Aupiais and L. Mirabito (Institut de l’Élevage)

Published in 2018

The castration of cattle is a source of pain for the animals. Depending on the method used, this pain can be more or less immediate and/or chronic. Managing pain during castration improves the animal's welfare while making the procedure safer for the operator. This fact sheet, co-produced by a multi-stakeholder working group, describes the main techniques and recommendations for pain management during castration.

Document Types: Good practice guide

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Pain, Mutilation

Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for pigs

Antoni Dalmau, Antonio Velarde, Kamara Scott, Sandra Edwards

Published in 2009

This document sets out the indicators used to assess welfare in pig production (breeding sows, growing pigs), including the rearing and abattoir phases. The chosen indicators concern the resources available to the animal (housing, activities), measurements taken from the animal, and a qualitative evaluation. The document explains registration procedures, qualitative and frequency scoring methods and the aggregation of criteria from four of the five domains of welfare: nutrition, environment, health and appropriate behaviours. 

Document Types: Technical work

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords: Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Animal-based measurements, Anxiety, Livestock buildings, Pain, Enrichment, Welfare indicators, Housing, Restraint equipment, Living environment, Mutilation, Fear, Human-animal relationships, Stress

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Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for poultry

Andy Butterworth, Cecile Arnould, Thea Fiks-van Niekerk...

Published in 2009

The document sets out the indicators used to assess the welfare of poultry (broiler and laying hens), including the rearing and abattoir phases. The chosen indicators concern the resources available to the animal (housing, activities), measurements taken from the animal, and a qualitative evaluation. The document explains registration procedures, qualitative and frequency scoring methods, and the aggregation of criteria from four of the five domains of welfare: nutrition, environment, health and appropriate behaviours.

Document Types: Technical work

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords: Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Animal-based measurements, Anxiety, Livestock buildings, Pain, Enrichment, Environment, Welfare indicators, Housing, Restraint equipment, Living environment, Mutilation, Fear, Human-animal relationships, Stress

General Principles for the welfare of animals in production systems: the underlying science and its application

Fraser D., Duncan I.J.H., Edwards S.A., Grandin T., Gregory N.G., Guyonnet V., Hemsworth P.H., Huertas S.M., Huzzey J.M., Mellor D.J., Mench J.A., Spinka M., Whay H.R.,

Published in 2013

Presentation of the 10 general principles relating to welfare in production systems adopted by the OIE for the development of standards

Document Types: Scientific review

Keywords: Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Animal-based measurements, Anxiety, Pain, Enrichment, Environment, Welfare indicators, Housing, Living environment,Mutilation, Fear, Cognitive processes, Human-animal relationships, Stress

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Standardising the assessment of environmental enrichment and tail-docking legal requirements for finishing pigs in Europe

Hothersall B., Whistance L., Zedlacher H., Algers B., Andersson E., Bracke M., Courboulay V., Ferrari P., Leeb C., Mullan S., Nowicki J., Meunier-Salaün M.C., Schwarz T., Stadig L., Main D.

Published in 2016

This  e-learning module providing a concise summary of the scientific evidence that underpins EU legislation on pig enrichment and harvesting has been produced in seven languages, with the aim of improving consistency in professional judgements regarding legal compliance on farms. The mark profiles indicated that the roles of the participants had an impact on their scores but that the training led to overall improvement in: (i) their ability to identify enrichments which, due to their type or use by pigs, may be insufficient to ensure compliance; (ii) their knowledge of risk factors for tail biting; and (iii) their recognition of when tail docking occurs.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

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

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Welfare Quality® assessment protocol for cattle

Christoph Winckler, Bo Algers, Kees van Reenen, Hélène Leruste, Isabelle Veissier, Linda Keeling, Andy Butterworth, Gwen van Overbeke, Vere Bedaux

Published in 2009

Welfare Quality® combines analysis of consumer perceptions and attitudes with current knowledge from animal welfare science. This has led to the identification of 12 criteria that must be properly taken into account by evaluation systems. To address these issues, it has been decided to focus on those indicators classified as animal-based, which address aspects of the immediate welfare status of animals, such as their behaviour, fear, health or physical condition. These animal-based measures include the effects of variations in farm system management (role of the farmer) as well as particular system-animal interactions. It is however clear that resource-based and management-based measures can also contribute to a welfare assessment if they are closely correlated with animal-based measures. In addition, resource- and management-based measures can be used to identify animal welfare risks and to identify the causes of poor welfare so that improvement strategies can be implemented.
This protocol describes the procedures and requirements for the assessment of the welfare of cattle and is limited to the main categories of production animals, i.e. feeder cattle, dairy cows and veal calves. The document first outlines the on-farm collection of measurement data on feeder cattle, followed by the procedures for calculating scores. The next section describes the collection of data at the abattoir to assess the welfare of feeder cattle at the time of slaughter. Next, the procedure for on-farm collection of measurement data on dairy cows and the calculation of scores for overall farm welfare assessment is described, followed by the protocols for on-farm collection of the same data from calves, along with a description of data collection protocols for measurements taken at the abattoir but relevant to farm welfare. These last two sections complement each other and are used together to calculate on-farm welfare scores for veal calves.

Document Types: Good practice guide

Animal categories: Bovines, Ruminants

Keywords: Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Animal-based measurements, Anxiety, Livestock buildings, Pain, Enrichment, Environment, Welfare indicators, Housing, Restraint equipment, Living environment, Modelling, Mutilation, Fear, Human-animal relationships, Stress

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