Subject: Welfare indicators

Évaluation de l’impact du PSN sur le bien-être animal-rapport final

EY

Published in 2026

Evaluation of the National Strategic Plan (PSN) from the perspective of animal welfare (BEA), covering the years 2023 and 2024—the first two full years of implementation of the CAP National Strategic Plan (PSN). Analysis of the contribution of CAP interventions to animal welfare, as well as their consistency and complementarity with other relevant measures.

Document Types: Technical review

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

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Research on Cattle Feeding and Nutrition in Relation to Animal Welfare: A Bibliometric Analysis

Ana María Herrera, Emilia Ponce, Robert Emilio Mora-Luna

Published in 2026

Bibliometric analysis of 424 publications (2009–2025) highlighting a strong growth in research on the links between nutrition and cattle welfare, with a shift towards approaches that also incorporate stress, health, and productivity

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

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Invited Review: Precision Livestock Farming Technologies in Swine Intensive Production

Giovanni Buonaiuto, Eleonora Nannoni, Luca Sardi, Simona Belperio, Chris Sanzò, Giovanna Martelli

Published in 2026

Scientific synthesis of the use of precision farming technologies, including the use of sensors, automation, and artificial intelligence, to improve monitoring and management in pig farming. It focuses on technologies to monitor health, optimize feeding, control microclimates, and assess pig welfare. It sets out the benefits and limitations of these technologies for intensive pig farming.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Porcines

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Assessing good physical health and resilience as a foundation for positive welfare in chickens

Lisa Jung, Ruth C. Newberry, Yukari Togami, Manja Zupan Šemrov

Published in 2026

Study proposing anatomical and physiological indicators to assess the health and resilience of chickens, with a view to developing proactive and potentially automated assessment tools to support positive animal welfare.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Poultry

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Animal Board Invited Review: Intrinsic hedonic value, complexity, and possibility for action as essential characteristics of a welfare-friendly environment for animals

I. Veissier, C. Terlouw, R. Botreau, V. Deiss, S. Cowie

Published in 2026

Study examining how the hedonic value of the environment determines animal welfare. Welfare depends on a balance between positive emotions, environmental complexity and opportunities for behavioral expression: these factors must be optimized (rather than maximized), since an excess or a deficiency of any one of them can be harmful to welfare, with the optimal level varying by individual.

Document Types: Scientific review

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

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Review: Understanding cattle social behavior in modern penned production systems with AI technology: Are we tracking welfare indicators?

A. Fuentes, S. Han, J. Liu, J. Park, S. Yoon, D.S. Park

Published in 2026

Review stressing the limitations of AI in automatically monitoring cattle behaviors, currently limited to describing actions independent of context. The authors propose an AI framework based on the principles of multimodal data integration, context-aware behavioral modeling, shared behavioral ontologies, human-in-the-loop system design, and explainable AI to improve assessment of animal welfare.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Bovines

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Precision Livestock Farming for Dairy Sheep: A Literature Review of IoT and Decision-Support Systems for Enhanced Management and Welfare

Mura M.C., Trimasse O., Carcangiu V., Luridiana S.

Published in 2026

Review showing that precision farming technologies have significant potential to improve the monitoring and welfare of dairy ewes, but their adoption continues to be constrained by economic, technical, and ethical factors.

Document Types: Scientific review

Animal categories: Ovines

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Behavioral indicators of positive welfare in broilers

Jenna Boewe, Marisa Erasmus

Published in 2026

The welfare of broiler chickens now includes positive states and the expression of natural behaviors, which are assessed using behavioral indicators and promoted through environmental enrichment.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Poultry

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Stereotypical behaviors across species: From neurobiological mechanisms to farm animal welfare

Chenyang Li, Jie Gao, Hang Shu, Guangyong Zhao, Xianhong Gu

Published in 2026

A review describing stereotypical behaviors—indicators of distress—that are based on neurobiological mechanisms that have yet to be fully studied in farm animals. The authors highlight current gaps in knowledge and discuss prospects for better understanding these behaviors and improving animal welfare.

Document Types: Scientific review

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

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Integration of computer vision-based behavioral monitoring and machine learning to enhance precision in health and welfare monitoring systems in pig farming

Eddiemar B. Lagua, Hong-Seok Mun, Md Sharifuzzaman, Md Kamrul Hasan, Ahsan Mehtab, Jin-Gu Kang, Young-Hwa Kim, Chul-Ju Yang

Published in 2026

Study showing that computer vision and machine learning are effective in detecting stress-related behaviors in pigs. The models perform very well (especially in binary), but the precise detection of certain states still needs improvement.

Document Types: Scientific paper

Animal categories: Porcines

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