Animal Welfare Measures Research Articles

DIAGNOSTIC APPLICATIONS OF INFRARED THERMOGRAPHY IN CAPTIVE BRAZILIAN CANIDS AND FELIDS

Infrared thermography is a noninvasive diagnostic imaging method that does not require animal restraint. This tool provides instant images in real time, even at great distances, being very advantageous for wild animals. The thermograph measures the frequency of infrared rays, it locates hot or cold regions in the body tissues, detecting physiological or pathological processes that modify body temperature. In the veterinary diagnosis of wild animals, thermal imaging is used to determine causes of lameness, lesions and inflammation. It also can be used to diagnosis infectious diseases, reproductive period or gestation and to measure animal welfare and stress levels. This research aimed to use infrared thermography as a tool for remote diagnosis in Brazilian canids and felids kept ex-situ at the Sorocaba Zoo, Brazil. During one year the images were recorded biweekly in 42 individuals (18 canids and 24 felids). No thermal change was noticed in the images taken biweekly. Twelve animals presented symptoms at different times, then images were taken immediately and recorded every 3 days to follow the evolution of the clinical signs and treatment. Atypical images were interpreted and correlated with the clinical signs. The method showed good sensitivity when applied to felids. In the canids there was good sensitivity for head and limb disorders, because these regions have shorter hair. It is concluded that thermography is an important diagnostic tool for canids and felids, being an examination carried out at a distance, without stress, non-invasive and painless, prioritizing animal welfare.

Immune fitness as a measure of animal health, welfare and productivity in the feedlot

Abstract Background Animals have long been bred for production traits that enable high-yield, but this does not consider the overall immunological ‘fitness’. What is the physiological basis that enables some animals to thrive or fail when exposed to production stresses, are there any measures of the immune component to identify these animals? Further, are there commonly related genes associated with immune fitness? Methods 50 mixed breed beef cattle were randomly selected at feedlot intake. Blood and saliva samples were collected at arrival (high stress), post- acclimatization and pre-slaughter (60 days post intake or ≥400kg). Body condition and other measures (weight, height, disposition, coat colour) were collected at each sampling and at slaughter. Samples were processed for cell counts, RNA (transcriptomics analysis) and serum (protein analysis). Transcriptomic and proteomic analysis was by 24k Bovine Affymetrix ST1 GeneChip and RayBiotech Bovine Cytokine Array Q30. Results and conclusion Analysis correlated to outcome measures identified genes and proteins associated with immune fitness including those correlated to animals with susceptibility to disease and/or low weight gains. These results suggest that immune measures may be utilized to identify animals at risk of poor production performance facilitating improved animal management to optimize animal health and welfare.

Animal welfare in the context of World Trade Organization dispute settlement.

This paper was written to give veterinarians and decision-makers an overview of World Trade Organization (WTO) findings relevant to animal welfare. The article has a practical focus and does not attempt to provide a legal analysis of WTO dispute settlement. The author has simplified very technical legal language so that the paper will be useful to a broader audience. The global trade rules comprise a series of legal agreements that came into effect in 1995, when the WTO was established. The overarching objective of the WTO is to promote international trade by avoiding unjustified discrimination between trading partners. The harmonisation of national measures with relevant international standards is encouraged by the WTO to facilitate safe trade. The broad objective of the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) is to promote global improvements in animal health and welfare, and veterinary public health. To this end, the OIE sets intergovernmental standards and works to strengthen the capacities of Members to implement them. The OIE standards are recognised as WTO references with respect to animal health and zoonotic diseases and a significant number of WTO disputes have addressed the relevance of these OIE standards to international trade measures. In addition to animal health standards, the OIE also sets standards for animal welfare, and has implemented regional and global strategies to encourage their adoption by Members. In comparison with measures to protect animal health or food safety, few WTO disputes have considered animal welfare related measures. A lack of WTO case law has contributed to uncertainty about the consistency of WTO animal welfare measures. This paper considers some WTO disputes and findings relevant to animal welfare. The outcomes of these disputes suggest that WTO Panels and the Appellate Body are prepared to accept the right of Members to regulate for animal welfare purposes, providing that they respect the established WTO disciplines. This article draws two main conclusions. Firstly, regardless of whether measures are adopted to protect animal welfare or animal health, for WTO consistency, they must not result in unjustifiable, arbitrary or unnecessary discrimination. Secondly, regardless of how the WTO deals with animal welfare, governments must respond to the growing interest of consumers in farm animal welfare. The OIE standards, as recognised references for trading countries and the WTO, will continue to be influential in relation to global trade in animal products. It is important that the OIE update its animal welfare standards regularly, to ensure that they are consistent with latest scientific understanding and appropriate to consumer expectations for ethical food production.

Effects of personality and rearing-history on the welfare of captive Asiatic lions (Panthera leo persica).

BackgroundThe long-term success of ex-situ conservation programmes depends on species-appropriate husbandry and enrichment practices complemented by an accurate welfare assessment protocol. Zoos and conservation breeding programmes should employ a bottom-up approach to account for intraspecific variations in measures of animal welfare. We studied 35 (14:21) captive Asiatic lions in Sakkarbaug Zoological Garden, Junagadh, India to understand the implications of individual variations on welfare measures. We categorized the subjects based on personality traits (bold or shy), rearing history (wild-rescued or captive-raised), sex, and social-grouping. We explored the association of these categorical variables on welfare indices such as behavioural diversity, latency to approach novel objects, enclosure usage and aberrant repetitive behaviours. Further, we assessed the inter-relationships between different behavioural measures of welfare.ResultsOur results show that intraspecific variations based on rearing-history and personality traits are significantly associated with the welfare states of captive Asiatic lions. Asiatic lions with bold personality traits (M = 0.50, SD = 0.12, N = 21) and those raised in captivity (M = 0.47, SD = 0.12, N = 16) used enclosure space more homogenously compared to shy (M = 0.71, SD = 0.15, N = 14) and wild-rescued (M = 0.67, SD = 0.15, N = 19) animals. Behaviour diversity was significantly higher in captive-raised (M = 1.26, SD = 0.3, N = 16) and bold (M = 1.23, SD = 0.26, N = 21) subjects compared to wild-rescued (M = 0.83, SD = 0.35, N = 19) and shy (M = 0.73, SD = 0.34, N = 14) individuals. Aberrant repetitive behaviours (stereotypy) were significantly lower in bold (M = 7.01, SD = 4, N = 21) and captive-raised (M = 7.74, SD = 5.3) individuals compared to wild-rescued (M = 13.12, SD = 6.25, N = 19) and shy (M = 16.13, SD = 5.4, N = 16) lions. Sex and social-grouping of subjects did not show significant associations with behavioural welfare indices. Interestingly, behaviour diversity was reliably predicted by the enclosure usage patterns and aberrant repetitive behaviours displayed by subjects.DiscussionOur findings underline the importance of individual-centric, behaviour-based, and multi-dimensional welfare assessment approaches in ex-situ conservation programmes. The results suggest that behavioural welfare indices complemented with individual variations can explain inter-individual differences in behavioural welfare measure outcomes of Asiatic lions. These findings also provide zoo managers with a non-invasive tool to reliably assess and improve husbandry practices for Asiatic lions. Understanding the unique welfare requirement of individuals in captivity will be crucial for the survival of the species.

Chinese farmers’ attitude towards the improvement of animal welfare in their facilities

AbstractThis study sought to investigate Chinese farmers’ attitude towards animal welfare by using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). According to the TPB, an individual's intention to behave in a certain way is determined by his/her attitude towards the behaviour (specific attitude — importance — and general attitudes), the perceived behavioural control (easiness), and the supposed opinion of the people who are important to him/her (subjective norms). A total of 253 questionnaires were used, which included the three main animal productions in China (swine, poultry and cattle). Chinese farmers have perceived the improvement of animal welfare as two abstracts: general attitudes (reward-seeking, and empathic farmer); and four specific categories of actions (favourable environment, animal health, humane treatment of animals and farmers’ well-being). Our analysis revealed that general and specific attitudes were the strongest predictors of farmers’ intentions to improve animal welfare in the questionnaire study. In fact, Chinese farmers considered it fairly important to improve the animal welfare measures considered in the survey. In contrast, the same animal welfare measures were considered difficult to improve by the farmers as indicated by the lack of association between the easiness of improving animal welfare and the intentions. In addition, veterinarians, agricultural advisers, and scientific experts were considered to be relatively influential subjective norms as regards the activities of the farmers. This is the first study to provide an insight into the underlying meanings and values of Chinese farmers’ views on improvements to animal welfare.

Compliance with animal welfare regulations: drivers and consequences

Abstract In the field of animal welfare science focus has traditionally been on the risk factors for, and prevention of, animal welfare problems. More recently, the topic of measuring animal welfare at the individual level or at the group level has attracted substantial attention among animal welfare scientists. Furthermore, research into the content and structure of various regulations—including both official legislation and private standards—and their effects on animal welfare outcomes is growing. However, the amount of research related to compliance with animal welfare regulations is still extremely limited. In this review, we aim at illuminating the concept of compliance, how it can be measured within different audit systems, and the scientific challenges encountered when comparing different regulations in terms of compliance. In addition, we analyse and discuss different drivers for compliance, as well as the obstacles and complications in relation to various inspection and follow-up approaches in cases of non-compliance. We conclude that if participation in voluntary private animal welfare schemes is to be used as one of the variables when applying a risk-based approach to official animal welfare control, then the methods of measuring and accounting for compliance within such schemes must be clearly reported.

8 Precision dairy cattle welfare: use of technology for individual measures, record keeping and early disease detection

Abstract Precision Dairy Farming (PDF) technologies measure physiological or behavioral parameters from individual cows with the objective of enhancing animal health and welfare. Continuous monitoring of individual animals allows for detailed data record keeping and offers an opportunity to tailor management to the individual. Here we present some of the available technologies related to some of the key animal welfare measures on dairy farms, such as lying and rumination behavior, lameness and BCS monitoring. Generally, changes associated with lying time and rumination behavior are precise at the individual level but still not able to be generalized between herds, regions and productions systems. Automated gait scoring and BCS of individual cows are commercially available and becoming more accessible, allowing for increased opportunity for use on commercial dairy farms and in dairy research. Any use of PDT should understand the precision, accuracy and bias of the devices used, especially when interpreting herd summaries and regional averages. Most technologies evaluated are highly precise, but many fail to be accurate. In addition to their uses for farmers, PDT with high accuracy also aid researchers and processors to collect comprehensive data sets and reliable records. Overall, the potential uses of precision technology tools are likely to become more common on farms, and consequently improve dairy cattle management strategies, aid in herd monitoring, and improve animal welfare at the individual level.

Play like me: Similarity in playfulness promotes social play.

Social play is associated with the experience of positive emotions in higher vertebrates and may be used as a measure of animal welfare. Altering motivation to play (e.g., through short-term social isolation) can temporarily affect play levels between familiar individuals, a process which may involve emotional contagion. This study investigated how forming groups based on known differences in the personality trait "playfulness" (i.e., the longer-term propensity of an individual to actively play from adolescence to early adulthood) affects social play. Seventy-six adolescent male Lister Hooded rats underwent a Play-in-Pairs test assessing their playfulness, ranked as high (H), intermediate (I) or low (L). At seven weeks of age, rats were resorted into homogenous groups of similar (LLL, III, HHH), or heterogeneous groups of dissimilar (HII, LII) playfulness. Social play was scored in the home cage at Weeks 8, 10, 12 of age. A second Play-in-Pairs test was performed (Week 11) to assess consistency of playfulness. A Social Preference test investigated whether I rats in heterogeneous groups preferred proximity with I, H or L cage mates. It was found that heterogeneous groups played less than homogeneous ones at adolescence (8 weeks of age), while play levels at early adulthood (Weeks 10 and 12) did not differ between groups. Play in the homogeneous groups decreased with age as expected, while it did not change over time in the heterogeneous groups, which did not compensate for the lower play levels shown at adolescence. Play-in-Pairs scores before and after resorting were mildly correlated, indicating some level of consistency over time despite the resorting procedure. In the Social Preference test, subjects did not prefer one playfulness level over another. We conclude that a mismatch in playfulness may negatively affect social play development, and thus the welfare, of rats. Groups made of animals with similar playfulness, even those initially scoring relatively low in this trait, seemed to be more successful in establishing play relationships during adolescence.

The Reform of the Common European Agricultural Policy - An Opportunity for Effective Agri-environmental Policy Instruments?

The European Commission has put together a reform package for a demanding, targeted and efficient agri-environmental and climate protection policy including newly introduced Eco-Schemes and other measures to promote rural areas. The two types of measures used are anchored in two different support systems, which requires considerable administrative effort. Agricultural animal husbandry in particular has received a great deal of attention at present: A high consumption of meat is regarded as harmful to the environment and the husbandry conditions often contradict animal welfare. In order to change consumer behaviour, the creation of a uniform, easily understandable and binding state animal welfare label is regarded as central. Ultimately, however, stricter animal welfare measures can lead to loss of income and welfare for producers and the economy.

The Influence of Welfare Training on Bird Welfare and Carcass Quality in Two Commercial Poultry Primary Processing Plants.

Simple SummaryEnsuring acceptable welfare of broilers at the slaughterhouse is paramount in meeting legislative and retailer specifications, and in producing high quality meat. Animal welfare training for staff working in red meat slaughterhouses has been shown to improve animal welfare measures and product quality, however there is little evidence of the effects of welfare training in poultry processing plants. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of introducing a welfare training program for staff on bird welfare and carcass quality in a commercial Costa Rican and British poultry slaughter plant. The results we obtained show that staff welfare training has a positive effect on several bird welfare outcomes. Some carcass quality measures also improved post training, although this result was not consistent. These data could help the development and targeting of future welfare training courses and encourage the uptake of welfare training in the poultry slaughter industry.The number of broilers slaughtered globally is increasing. Ensuring acceptable welfare conditions for birds at the time of slaughter is paramount in meeting legislative and retailer specifications, and in producing high quality meat. There is knowledge that welfare training programs for members of the farming and red meat slaughter industry can improve animal welfare measures and product quality, however there is little evidence of the effects of welfare training in poultry processing plants. In our study, a comprehensive welfare training program was introduced to a Costa Rican and a British commercial broiler primary processing plant, both of which slaughter birds by way of neck cut post electrical water bath stunning. The effects of this program on some welfare and product quality measures were investigated, both immediately and six months post training. The welfare measures that showed significant improvements post training included; flapping at shackling, pre-stun shocks, stun parameters and effective neck cut. Product quality measures including broken wings and red pygostyles also improved, however the positive effect of training was not seen in all quality measures. Welfare training does have the potential to improve broiler welfare and product quality at slaughter, and these data could help the development and targeting of future welfare training courses and encourage the uptake of welfare training in the poultry slaughter industry.

Short-term fibre intake estimation in goats using surface electromyography of the masseter muscle

The demand for quality control and environmentally acceptable animal production are important requirements in livestock monitoring and control. Monitoring the ingestive behaviour of grazing ruminants has applications in measuring animal welfare, detection of animal diseases and modelling the animal production system. In this work, a non-invasive method for fibre intake estimation on ruminants is presented using a surface electromyography (sEMG) based sensor system. In order to acquire bite/chewing sEMG signals, superficial disposable electrodes were placed on three uncastrated male goats’ masseter muscle, housed in individual pens, and data was sampled during eating using an analogue-to-digital converter. Feed samples and-left-overs were weighed before and after the experiment, respectively, to estimate the total intake. Electromyographic preprocessed data was sent to a computer, where seven signal features were extracted. Feed intake was modelled by fitting sEMG features as a predictor by means of a linear model. Results indicate that fibre intake could be successfully predicted in goats eating several forages (Tifton 68 and Tifton 85 grass hay, bad quality Tifton hay, and forage oat hay) with coefficients of determination ( R 2 ) higher than 0.867, using the signal feature called Slope Sign Change (SSC) as a predictor, which expresses signal frequency characteristics and indicates physiological aspects of bite/chewing. The present work demonstrates that sEMG based systems can be used as a non-invasive feed fibre intake estimation tool.

Towards large scale automated cage monitoring - Diurnal rhythm and impact of interventions on in-cage activity of C57BL/6J mice recorded 24/7 with a non-disrupting capacitive-based technique.

Background and aimsAutomated recording of laboratory animal’s home cage behavior is receiving increasing attention since such non-intruding surveillance will aid in the unbiased understanding of animal cage behavior potentially improving animal experimental reproducibility.Material and methodsHere we investigate activity of group held female C57BL/6J mice (mus musculus) housed in standard Individually Ventilated Cages across three test-sites: Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR, Rome, Italy), The Jackson Laboratory (JAX, Bar Harbor, USA) and Karolinska Insititutet (KI, Stockholm, Sweden). Additionally, comparison of female and male C57BL/6J mice was done at KI. Activity was recorded using a capacitive-based sensor placed non-intrusively on the cage rack under the home cage collecting activity data every 250 msec, 24/7. The data collection was analyzed using non-parametric analysis of variance for longitudinal data comparing sites, weekdays and sex.ResultsThe system detected an increase in activity preceding and peaking around lights-on followed by a decrease to a rest pattern. At lights off, activity increased substantially displaying a distinct temporal variation across this period. We also documented impact on mouse activity that standard animal handling procedures have, e.g. cage-changes, and show that such procedures are stressors impacting in-cage activity.These key observations replicated across the three test-sites, however, it is also clear that, apparently minor local environmental differences generate significant behavioral variances between the sites and within sites across weeks. Comparison of gender revealed differences in activity in the response to cage-change lasting for days in male but not female mice; and apparently also impacting the response to other events such as lights-on in males. Females but not males showed a larger tendency for week-to-week variance in activity possibly reflecting estrous cycling.ConclusionsThese data demonstrate that home cage monitoring is scalable and run in real time, providing complementary information for animal welfare measures, experimental design and phenotype characterization.

Lameness and its relationship with health and production measures in broiler chickens

The aim of this study was to explore lameness and the associations between lameness and health/production measures of animal welfare in commercial broiler production, using the Welfare Quality® protocol for broilers. A total of 50 flocks were included in the sample and farm visits were conducted for lameness scoring at a mean age of 28.9 days. The percentage of animals (n=7500) in the six different gait score (GS) categories were GS0: 2.53%, GS1: 44.19%, GS2: 33.84%, GS3: 16.32%, GS4: 2.36% and GS5: 0.53%. Production and other welfare data were collected for each flock after slaughter. Higher gait scores were associated with increased hock burn score (P<0.02), increased footpad dermatitis score (P<0.01), reduced bird cleanliness score (P<0.01) and peat litter (P<0.01). Although not statistically significant, there was a tendency for increased flock gait score being associated with wet litter (P=0.07). In addition, condemnations at postmortem inspection were associated with increasing gait scores (P<0.05), indicating that at least a portion of the lameness cases display pathological changes on the carcasses. In conclusion, 19%of the birds showed moderate-to-severe lameness, which was associated with several production or health and welfare observations including feather cleanliness and condemnations as unfit for human consumption at slaughter. Although stocking density and growth rate are already known key factors for lameness, associations of lameness with hock burns, footpad dermatitis and cleanliness of the birds suggest that a suboptimal physical environment (e.g. litter- and air quality) may be detrimental to leg health. Further studies are needed to explore these associations in more detail.

Effects of Cage Enrichment on Behavior, Welfare and Outcome Variability in Female Mice

The manner in which laboratory rodents are housed is driven by economics (minimal use of space and resources), ergonomics (ease of handling and visibility of animals), hygiene, and standardization (reduction of variation). This has resulted in housing conditions that lack sensory and motor stimulation and restrict the expression of species-typical behavior. In mice, such housing conditions have been associated with indicators of impaired welfare, including abnormal repetitive behavior (stereotypies, compulsive behavior), enhanced anxiety and stress reactivity, and thermal stress. However, due to concerns that more complex environmental conditions might increase variation in experimental results, there has been considerable resistance to the implementation of environmental enrichment beyond the provision of nesting material. Here, using 96 C57BL/6 and SWISS female mice, respectively, we systematically varied environmental enrichment across four levels spanning the range of common enrichment strategies: (1) bedding alone; (2) bedding + nesting material; (3) deeper bedding + nesting material + shelter + increased vertical space; and (4) semi-naturalistic conditions, including weekly changes of enrichment items. We studied how these different forms of environmental enrichment affected measures of animal welfare, including home-cage behavior (time–budget and stereotypic behavior), anxiety (open field behavior, elevated plus-maze behavior), growth (food and water intake, body mass), stress physiology (glucocorticoid metabolites in fecal boluses and adrenal mass), brain function (recurrent perseveration in a two-choice guessing task) and emotional valence (judgment bias). Our results highlight the difficulty in making general recommendations across common strains of mice and for selecting enrichment strategies within specific strains. Overall, the greatest benefit was observed in animals housed with the greatest degree of enrichment. Thus, in the super-enriched housing condition, stereotypic behavior, behavioral measures of anxiety, growth and stress physiology varied in a manner consistent with improved animal welfare compared to the other housing conditions with less enrichment. Similar to other studies, we found no evidence, in the measures assessed here, that environmental enrichment increased variation in experimental results.

Defining animal welfare standards in hunting: body mass determines thresholds for incapacitation time and flight distance

Shooting is an important tool for managing terrestrial wildlife populations worldwide. To date, however, there has been few quantitative methods available enabling assessment of the animal welfare outcomes of rifle hunting. We apply a variety of factors to model flight distance (distance travelled by an animal after bullet impact) and incapacitation from the moment of bullet impact. These factors include body mass, allometric and isometric scaling, comparative physiology, wound ballistics and linear kinematics. This approach provides for the first time a method for quantifying and grading the quality of shooting processes by examining only body mass and flight distance. Our model is a universally applicable tool for measuring animal welfare outcomes of shooting regimes both within and among species. For management agencies the model should be a practical tool for monitoring and evaluating animal welfare outcomes regarding shooting of mammalian populations.

Let the cows graze: An empirical investigation on the trade-off between efficiency and farm animal welfare in milk production

To investigate whether farm animal welfare comes at the cost of dairy farm performance, and the role that pasture-access thereby plays, we analyse a rich sample of 45 dairy farms in Germany with a scientific measure of farm animal welfare. Based on directional efficiency measure that acknowledges sequential preferences such that farm animal welfare becomes relevant after technical efficiency, we cannot find a trade-off between farm animal welfare and technical milk efficiency. Pasture-based production systems can be at least as efficient or even more efficient compared to confinement systems, despite lower milk yields. Neglecting sequential preferences would bias efficiency in provision of farm animal welfare by pasture-systems. Farms from all types of dairy systems determine the efficient frontier, where efficiency increases with herd size, and is linked with higher profits. We conclude that pasture-access may help but does not guarantee higher levels of animal welfare. These results question governmental support for pasture access regarding the provision of farm animal welfare.

Quantification of plasma corticosterone in juvenile farmed saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) using current Australian Code of Practice guidelines

Saltwater crocodiles (Crocodylus porosus) across three size categories (hatchlings, grower and harvest-size) were repeatedly blood sampled on two farms in the Northern Territory, Australia to determine reference plasma corticosterone (CORT; crocodilian stress hormone) levels. The mean CORT values for hatchlings (<1 year old), growers (1–3 years) and harvest-size individuals (2 + years) were 1.65 ± 0.15 ng/ml, 2.73 ± 0.21 ng/ml and 2.19 ± 0.16 ng/ml, respectively. No inter-farm differences within the hatchling or harvest-size crocodiles were detected, but growers on Farm 2 had significantly lower plasma CORT than those on Farm 1. However, the grower growth rate coefficients were the same across both farms so the repeated blood sampling design most likely contributed to the difference in CORT values rather than any management procedures. Plasma corticosterone levels significantly increased with time of day. Substantial variation in plasma CORT was observed at each sampling which is not unprecedented in the literature but requires further elucidation. Irrespective, as CORT values were generally low, our results suggest that the farming environment and husbandry practices, as implemented under the Australian industry Code of Practice, are effective as baseline animal welfare measures although they should be viewed as a foundation for further welfare research and not considered static.

Housing, management characteristics, and factors associated with lameness, hock lesion, and hygiene of lactating dairy cattle on Upper Midwest United States dairy farms using automatic milking systems

The objectives of this cross-sectional study were to describe housing and management practices on farms using automatic milking systems (AMS) in 2 states of the upper Midwest and to evaluate the association of various housing and management factors with 3 measures of animal welfare: prevalence of lameness, severe hock lesions, and dirty cows. Fifty-four farms were visited once to collect facility measurements and observations, interview the dairy producer, and score cows for locomotion, hock lesions, and hygiene. Median number of AMS units/farm was 2 (interquartile range = 1; range = 1 to 8). Factors concerning labor were the most commonly cited reason by dairy producers for making the transition to the AMS; additional commonly cited factors were an improvement in lifestyle and human health. Number of cows fetched per AMS, or manually brought to the AMS if not milked voluntarily, was 4.7 ± 2.3 cows/AMS per day (8% of cows) for free traffic flow farms and 3.3 ± 1.8 cows/AMS per day (5% of cows) for guided traffic flow farms. Cow resting surface was significantly associated with prevalence of lameness and severe lameness. Farms with sand-bedded freestalls (17.2%) and bedded packs (17.4%) had significantly lower lameness prevalence (score ≥3 on a 1 to 5 scale, with 1 = normal locomotion) than farms with mattress freestalls (30.5%), waterbeds (25.0%), and mattresses with access to pasture (22.6%). Farms with mattresses and access to pasture had similar lameness prevalence to farms with waterbeds, but were lower than farms with mattresses only. A somewhat similar result was found for severe lameness prevalence (score ≥4 on a 1 to 5 scale, with 1 = normal locomotion); farms with sand-bedded freestalls (2.8%), bedded packs (0.0%), and mattress freestalls with access to pasture (1.5%) had significantly lower prevalence than farms with mattresses (7.1%) or waterbeds (10.8%). Severe hock lesion prevalence (score = 3 on a 1 to 3 scale, with 1 = normal, 3 = swelling) in herds with sand-bedded freestalls, waterbeds, and bedded packs were similar and significantly lower than the prevalence in mattress-based freestalls. Cows housed in sand-bedded freestalls had significantly lower prevalence of dirty cows (score = 3 or 3.5 on a 1 to 5 scale, with 1 = clean) than those housed on mattresses and waterbeds, and had significantly lower prevalence of severely dirty cows (score = 4, 4.5 or 5 on a 1 to 5 scale, with 1 = clean) than all other housing systems except waterbeds, which was similar. Manure removal system (manual, automatic, or slatted floor) was significantly associated with prevalence of severely dirty cows; farms with manual scraping had lower prevalence of severely dirty cows than farms where alley scraping was practiced automatically or slatted floors were used. Dairy producers using AMS appeared to be successful with a variety of facility designs and management practices. Cow resting surface in AMS herds was associated with some animal health and welfare measurements.

What can carcass-based assessments tell us about the lifetime welfare status of pigs?

There is increasing interest in developing abattoir-based measures of farm animal welfare. It is important to understand the extent to which these measures reflect lifetime welfare status. The study aim was to determine whether lesions acquired during different production stages remain visible on the carcass, and the degree to which carcass-based measures may reflect broader health and welfare issues. 532 animals were assessed at 7, 9 and 10 weeks of age (early life, EL), and at 15 and 20 weeks of age (later life, LL) for tail lesions (TL), skin lesions (SL) and a number of health issues (HI) including lameness and coughing. Pigs were categorised according to when individual welfare issues occurred in the production process; ‘early life’ [EL], ‘later life’ [LL], ‘whole life’ [WL], or ‘uninjured’ (U) if showing no signs of a specific welfare issue on-farm. Following slaughter, carcasses were scored for tail length, tail lesions, and skin lesions and cold carcass weights (CCW) were obtained. Generalised linear, ordinal logistic and binary logistic fixed model procedures were carried out to examine the ability of TL, SL and HI lifetime categories to predict carcass traits. Pigs with TL in EL, LL and WL had higher carcass tail lesion scores than U pigs (P < 0.001). Pigs with TL in LL (P < 0.05) and WL (P < 0.001), but not in EL (P > 0.05), also had shorter tails at slaughter than U pigs. In relation to TL scores, U pigs also had a higher cold carcass weight compared to LL and WL (P < 0.001), but not EL pigs (P > 0.05). Pigs with SL in EL, LL and WL had higher healed skin lesion scores on the carcass than U pigs (P < 0.001). Health issues recorded during lifetime were not reflected in carcass measures used (P > 0.05). The current study shows that tail lesions and skin lesions, acquired at least 10 weeks before slaughter, remain evident on the carcass and consequently, may be useful as tools to assist in determining the lifetime welfare status of pigs. Low CCW was associated with tail lesions, supporting previous research suggesting that tail lesions have a negative impact on growth performance in pigs.

Relationship between herd size and measures of animal welfare on dairy cattle farms with freestall housing in Germany

The objective of this study was to examine the association of herd size with animal welfare in dairy cattle herds. Therefore, 80 conventional dairy cattle farms were classified by the number of cows into 4 herd size classes, C1 (<100 cows), C2 (100-299 cows), C3 (300-499 cows), and C4 (≥500 cows), and assessed using multiple animal-based measures of the Welfare Quality Assessment protocol for dairy cattle. Data were recorded from April 2014 to September 2016 by an experienced single assessor in northern Germany. Each farm was visited 2 times at an interval of 6 mo (summer period and winter period) to avoid seasonal effects on the outcome. The average herd size was 383 ± 356 Holstein-Friesian cows (range 45 to 1,629). Only farms with freestall (cubicle) housing and a maximum of 6 h access to pasture per day were included in the study. Data were statistically analyzed using a generalized linear mixed model. None of the farms reached the highest overall rating of "excellent." The majority of the farms were classified as "enhanced" (30%) or "acceptable" (66%), and at 6 assessments the farms were rated as "not classified" (4%). Regarding single indicators, mean trough length per cow, percentage of cows with nasal discharge, and vulvar discharge increased with increasing herd size, whereas it was vice versa for displacements of cows. Percentage of lean cows, percentage of dirty lower legs, and duration of the process of lying down showed a curvilinear relationship with the number of cows per farm. Herd size was not associated with any other measures of the Welfare Quality protocol. In conclusion, herd size effects were small, and consequently herd size cannot be considered as a feasible indicator of the on-farm animal welfare level. Housing conditions and management practices seem to have a greater effect on animal welfare than the number of dairy cows per farm.