Keywords: Stress

Welfare implications on management strategies for rearing dairy calves: A systematic review. Part 2 - Social management

Patricia Carulla, Arantxa Villagrá, Fernando Estellés, Isabel Blanco-Penedo

Published in 2023

Scientific review of different social management strategies in dairy calf rearing taking account of three animal welfare domains: biological functioning and animal health, affective states or cognitive judgment, and natural way of life. The main problems identified concern social housing with conspecifics, separation from the mother, and human-animal interactions. The authors stress the need to standardize good socialization practices for dairy calves.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Enrichment, Housing, Maternity, Human-animal relationships, Socialization, Stress

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Reducing Weaning Stress in Piglets by Pre-Weaning Socialization and Gradual Separation from the Sow: A Review

Céline Van Kerschaver, Diana Turpin, Joris Michiels, John Pluske

Published in 2023

Scientific review of alternative piglet management strategies to reduce weaning stress. These include the pre-weaning grouping of piglets from different litters and intermittent suckling. Their effects on post-weaning pig behavior, performance, mortality, gastrointestinal function and immunocompetence are described.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Aggression, Aggressivity, Animal-based measurements, Enrichment, Housing, Weaning, Stress

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Stunning and Slaughter: good practices for Animal Welfare in Aquaculture

Aquatic Life Institute

Published in 2023

Fact sheet describing commercially-available "welfare-friendly" stunning and slaughtering equipment for some of the most common farmed species in aquaculture, explaining how the equipment works, emphasizing the importance of proper calibration, and of its context of use. 

Document Types: Good practice guide

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Consciousness, Pain, Societal issues, Stress

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Chapter Three - Can insects feel pain? A review of the neural and behavioural evidence

Matilda Gibbons, Andrew Crump, Meghan Barrett, Sajedeh Sarlak, Jonathan Birch, Lars Chittka

Published in 2023

Systematic literature review using 8 previously validated animal sentience criteria to assess whether 6 insect orders are capable of feeling pain. Adult Diptera and Blattodea meet 6 of the 8 criteria, constituting "strong evidence for pain", while the adults and some juveniles from the other orders tested meet 3-4 criteria, constituting "substantial evidence for pain".

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Insects

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Brain integration, Pain, Welfare indicators, Stress

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Is it time for insect researchers to consider their subjects' welfare?

Andrew Crump, Matilda Gibbons, Meghan Barrett, Jonathan Birch, Lars Chittka

Published in 2023

Scientific article defining pain, differentiating it from nociception, and recalling work that has led to the conclusion that most of the 6 largest insect orders are very likely capable of feeling pain. It concludes that this fact should be taken into account by entomologists, and suggests extending the 3Rs rule (replace, reduce, refine) to insect research.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories:Insects

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Brain integration, Pain, Welfare indicators, Stress

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Welfare of Decapod Crustaceans with Special Emphasis on Stress Physiology

Sven Wuertz, David Bierbach, Mirko Bögner

Published in 2023

Scientific review of current knowledge on sentience in decapod crustaceans. It presents scientific evidence for nociception and pain perception in these animals, and highlights the lack of markers for chronic stress detection that could be used in the routine work of aquaculture businesses.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Crustaceans

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Brain integration, Pain, Welfare indicators, Stress

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Inspection post mortem en abattoir d’animaux de boucherie

Bureau des Etablissements d'Abattage et de Découpe

Published in 2023

Technical instruction from the French Bureau des Etablissements d'Abattage et de Découpe (Slaughtering and Cutting Establishments Office) listing the regulatory provisions relating to post-mortem inspection in abattoirs for slaughter animals, providing a reference list of reasons for official intervention and providing harmonization tools for inspections.

Document types: Regulation/Certification

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

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Carcass quality, Consciousness, Pain, Societal issues, Stress

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The Feasibility of Animal-Based Indicators of Consciousness and Unconsciousness for Stunning in Sheep: A Systematic Review

Marta Comin, Sara Barbieri, Michela Minero, Emanuela Dalla Costa

Published in 2023

Systematic review of the scientific literature on the feasibility constraints on animal-based indicators commonly used in abattoirs to assess the correct stunning of sheep.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Ovines

Keywords:Consciousness, Pain, Stress

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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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