Subject: Food

The changing face and associated drivers of research on welfare of the gestating sow

Maria Costanza Galli, Flaviana Gottardo, Barbara Contiero, Annalisa Scollo, Laura Ann Boyle

Published in 2021

Scientific review noting a growing interest among scientists in Oceania, Latin America and Asia in the welfare issues for pregnant sows, as well as the emergence of new research topics in recent years, including group sow management and environmental enrichment.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords: Enrichment, Housing, Living environment,Societal issues

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MyFishCheck: A Model to Assess Fish Welfare in Aquaculture

Linda Tschirren, David Bachmann, Ali Cem Güler, Oliver Blaser, Nicola Rhyner, Andreas Seitz, Erich Zbinden, Thomas Wahli, Helmut Segner, Dominik Refardt

Published in 2021

Scientific paper describing a framework to assess the welfare of farmed fish, based on 80 indicators grouped into 5 modules: farm management, water quality, fish group behaviour, external appearance and internal appearance of fish. An application has been developed to facilitate its use.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

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

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A review of factors affecting the welfare of dairy calves in pasture-based production systems

Megan Verdon

Published in 2021

A scientific review identifying the following risk factors for poor welfare in pasture-reared dairy calves (common to all rearing systems): perinatal mortality, poor passive transfer of immunity, poor pain management during disbudding and insufficient milk in the feed.  In addition, separation from the mother and the culling of male calves reduces the public acceptability of dairy farming. It makes recommendations for improving farming practices.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Maternity, Living environment, Livestock farming system, Societal issues

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Animal Welfare Assessment in Antibiotic-Free and Conventional Broiler Chicken

Luigi Iannetti, Sara Romagnoli, Giuseppe Cotturone, Michele Podaliri Vulpiani

Published in 2021

Scientific paper comparing the main animal welfare criteria for batches of chickens reared with and without antibiotics, showing that the overall scores are comparable, especially for health indicators, and that batches of chickens reared without antibiotics had a better management score but scored less well on the good-feeding principle.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Enrichment, Living environment, Human-animal relationships, Stress, Livestock farming system, Welfare indicators

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Methodologies to Assess the Bioactivity of an Herbal Extract on Immunity, Health, Welfare and Production Performance in the Chicken: The Case of Melissa officinalis L. Extract

Angélique Travel, Angélique Petit, Perrine Barat, Anne Collin, Camille Bourrier-Clairat, Marion Pertusa, Fabien Skiba, Sabine Crochet, Estelle Cailleau-Audouin, Pascal Chartrin, Vanaïque Guillory, Denis Bellenot, Rodrigo Guabiraba,Laurence A. Guilloteau

Published in 2021

Scientific paper demonstrating the potential of lemon balm extracts to enhance the immunity of broiler chickens, with a view to reducing the use of antimicrobials. It describes the methodology for the production of stable lemon balm extracts in vitro and in chicken feed, and shows their antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential ex vivo and using an experimental model for chickens whose initial conditions are suboptimal.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Enrichment

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Le comportement des taurillons en engraissement – comprendre les animaux pour gérer leur bien-être

Béatrice Mounaix, Aurore Philibert and Agathe Chey

Published in 2021

Practical factsheet based on a summary of the literature and produced as part of the CASDAR BeBop project on the physiological and behavioural needs of fattening bullocks.

Document Types: Technical review

Animal categories: Bovines

Keywords: Human-animal relationships, Livestock farming system,Welfare indicators

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Factors associated with the development and prevalence of abnormal behaviors in horses: systematic review with meta-analysis

Jéssica Carvalho Seabra, João Ricardo Dittrich, Marcos Martinez do Vale

Published in 2021

Scientific review revealing wide variations in the occurrence of abnormal behaviours in horses across studies, and identifying poor nutritional management as the main risk factor in the development of such abnormal behaviours.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords:Risk management, Stress, Psychiatric disorder

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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 disorder

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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, Livestock farming system

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The Application of Cameras in Precision Pig Farming: An Overview for Swine-Keeping Professionals

Elanchezhian Arulmozhi, Anil Bhujel, Byeong-Eun Moon, Hyeon-Tae Kim

Published in 2021

A scientific review of the state of the art of 3D imaging systems and 2D cameras as an efficient means to identify pig behaviour. It describes automated methods for the monitoring and study of feeding, watering, lying, locomotion, aggression and reproductive behaviour in pigs.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Precision farming, Welfare indicators, Stress

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