Subject: Food

The Importance of Natural Feeding Behaviour for Horse (Equus caballus) Welfare

Sandra Brolin

Published in 2022

Academic paper stating that welfare levels in horses on pasture are better than in those kept in stables, particularly because of the opportunity pasture provides to express  their natural feeding behaviours. Alternative methods of feeding or feed distribution are suggested that could improve the welfare of stabled animals.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Equines

Keywords: Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Enrichment

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Review: Assessment of dairy cow welfare at pasture: measures available, gaps to address, and pathways to development of ad-hoc protocols

L. Aubé, M.M. Mialon, E. Mollaret, L. Mounier, I. Veissier, A. de Boyer des Roches

Published in 2022

Scientific review of the benefits and risks of grazing for dairy cows, measures that can be used to assess the welfare of cows on pasture, and the knowledge gaps that need to be filled to develop specific welfare indicators.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

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

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Practices and issues of moulting programs for laying hens: a review

R. Mishra, B. Mishra, Y. S. Kim, R. Jha 

Published in 2022

Scientific review on the methods used on laying hen farms to trigger and end moulting, along with the animal welfare problems they cause.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Stress, Livestock farming system

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Welfare issues resulting from feed restriction in pregnant sows

EURCAW-Pigs

Published in 2022

Review of the scientific literature for veterinary inspectors of Member States on the regulation and scientific knowledge on behavioral and physiological signs of hunger in pregnant sows under a restricted feed regime, and on ways to reduce associated welfare problems (aggression and stereotypies). They aim to reduce hunger sensations and to adapt farming methods.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Welfare indicators, Stress

Improving heat stress resilience should be priority for swine industry

Ann Hess

Published in 2022

Summary of a webinar hosted by the USDA on how to mitigate the impacts of heat stress on the health and welfare of pigs in factory farming. It presents research findings to improve heat stress resilience in pigs through a three-part approach, that looks at management, nutrition and genetics.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Risk management, Living environment, Resilience, Robustness, Stress

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Effects of Enrichment Type, Presentation and Social Status on Enrichment Use and Behavior of Sows-Part 2: Free Access Stall Feeding

Cyril Roy, Victoria Kyeiwaa, Karen F. Mancera, Yolande M. Seddon, Laurie M. Connor, Jennifer A. Brown

Published in 2022

Scientific paper examining the influence of the nature and presentation of enrichment when feeding pregnant sows in open access stalls. It looks at the four scenarios of rotation of various enrichments, rotation with sound stimulus at the point that enrichment type is changed, no rotation, and no enrichment. Sows preferred the rotational systems, including straw, and the level of stress and lesions was the same between dominant and dominated sows, showing the usefulness of this system in reducing stress and aggression.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Porcines

Keywords:Adaptation of the environment to the animal, Enrichment, Housing, Stress

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Welfare Indicators in Tilapia: An Epidemiological Approach

Luis Flores-García, Juan C. Camargo-Castellanos, Cristina Pascual-Jímenez, Pablo Almazán-Rueda, Jorge Francisco Monroy-López, Pedro J. Albertos-Alpuche, Rosario Martínez-Yáñez

Published in 2022

Scientific paper evaluating the effects of feeding levels on conventionally-used welfare indicators for tilapia (presence/absence of skin lesions, body condition, weight gain, mortality rate) using an epidemiological approach. It shows that feeding levels directly affect welfare indicators and production.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Fish

Keywords:Adaptation of the animal to the environment, Welfare indicators, Stress

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Extensive Sheep and Goat Production: The Role of Novel Technologies towards Sustainability and Animal Welfare

Severiano R. Silva, Laura Sacarrão-Birrento, Mariana Almeida, David M. Ribeiro, Cristina Guedes, José Ramiro González Montaña, Alfredo F. Pereira, Konstantinos Zaralis, Ana Geraldo, Ouranios Tzamaloukas, Marta González Cabrera, Noemí Castro, Anastasio Argüello, Lorenzo E. Hernández-Castellano, Ángel J. Alonso-Diez, María J. Martín, Luis G. Cal-Pereyra, George Stilwell, André M. de Almeida

Published in 2022

Scientific review of technological developments that can be used in extensive sheep and goat production systems to improve the nutrition, production, health and welfare of these species, as part of an integrated approach that takes the environment into account.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories:Canines, Sheep

Keywords:Animal-based measurements, Precision farming, Livestock farming system

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Insect proteins offer health, welfare benefits to poultry

Elisabeth Doughman

Published in 2022

Article on the nutritional, environmental enrichment and leg-health benefits of insect protein for poultry. A research centre has been established in Texas to investigate the sustainable production of insect proteins for human food and animal feed.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Enrichment, Stress

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Les larves d’insectes activent les poulets

Eva Pampouille

Published in 2022

This article presents the results of a PINHS research project demonstrating that feeding black soldier fly larvae to Ross 308 broilers increases their activity levels at feeding time and their feed efficiency without affecting their performance or health status. However, this type of enrichment is currently too expensive.

Document types: Technical Paper

Animal categories: Poultry

Keywords:Enrichment, Stress

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