Abstract
Simple SummaryFarm animals can be said to have a ‘good life’ if their quality of life is substantially higher than the current legal minimum and includes positive experiences such as pleasure. In commercial farms, animals can be provided with different resources such as bedding, exercise areas and enrichment objects. We used scientific evidence and expert opinion to determine which resources laying hens need to contribute to a ‘good life’. These resources were organised into three tiers, of increasing welfare, leading towards a ‘good life’. We describe how we developed the resource tiers and suggest how the overall framework might be used to promote a ‘good life’ for farm animals.The concept of a ‘good life’ recognises the distinction that an animal’s quality of life is beyond that of a ‘life worth living’, representing a standard of welfare substantially higher than the legal minimum (FAWC, 2009). We propose that the opportunities required for a ‘good life’ could be used to structure resource tiers that lead to positive welfare and are compatible with higher welfare farm assurance schemes. Published evidence and expert opinion was used to define three tiers of resource provision (Welfare +, Welfare ++ and Welfare +++) above those stipulated in UK legislation and codes of practice, which should lead to positive welfare outcomes. In this paper we describe the principles underpinning the framework and the process of developing the resource tiers for laying hens. In doing so, we summarise expert opinion on resources required to achieve a ‘good life’ in laying hens and discuss the philosophical and practical challenges of developing the framework. We present the results of a pilot study to establish the validity, reliability and feasibility of the draft laying hen tiers on laying hen production systems. Finally, we propose a generic welfare assessment framework for farm animals and suggest directions for implementation, alongside outcome parameters, that can help define and promote a future ‘good life’ for farm animals.
Highlights
In accordance with the UK Farm Animal Welfare Committee’s (FAWC) Five Freedoms [1], farm assurance schemes and legislation have largely focused on the alleviation of negative aspects of welfare
As with negative aspects of welfare, the opportunity for animals to have positive experiences, which we describe as positive welfare, is probably best assessed on farms using a range of resource and animal-based measures to infer overall affective state as “there are as yet no feasible animal-based measures indicative of good welfare” [7]
We identified 121 scientific papers focusing on aspects of laying hen needs, resources or positive welfare
Summary
In accordance with the UK Farm Animal Welfare Committee’s (FAWC) Five Freedoms [1], farm assurance schemes and legislation have largely focused on the alleviation of negative aspects of welfare. FAWC proposed that the minimum standards of farm animal welfare should move beyond the assessment of the Five Freedoms to achieve a ‘life worth living’ [2]. In their 2009 report, FAWC introduced the concept of a ‘good life’, representing the distinction that an animal’s quality of life is substantially higher than what implementation of legal minimum requirements can achieve, and over and beyond that of a ‘life worth living’ [2]. Scientists have focused on animal welfare outcomes that relate to health, physiology or behaviour, whereas consumers tend to value the naturalness concepts. Dawkins suggested that we should focus on two simple concepts; “We need to know both what the animals themselves want and what is good for their health.”. Dawkins suggested that we should focus on two simple concepts; “We need to know both what the animals themselves want and what is good for their health.” Consideration of the health and an animal’s wants has, been used to guide the framework below
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