Welfare Monitoring Research Articles

Data-Based Variables Used as Indicators of Dairy Cow Welfare at Farm Level: A Review.

Simple SummaryIn recent years, the interest in the use of data from routine herd records in the monitoring of dairy welfare at farm level has increased. This review compiles 13 papers to outline the current potential of data-based variables for animal welfare monitoring. All the identified studies showed associations between data-based variables and farm-level dairy cow welfare and therefore provide a first indication of the possible use and suitability of data-based variables for welfare monitoring. However, we found that the definitions of animal welfare, its assessment on the farm, and the data-based variables varied considerably. Consequently, the current state of research does not allow a conclusive assessment of the potential of data-based variables for animal welfare monitoring. Therefore, future research is needed to clarify the potential of data-based variables. Harmonisation of the data-based variables and the use of valid measurements that reflect the multidimensionality of welfare could contribute to increased comparability between the studies.During the last years, the interest in data-based variables (DBVs) as easy-to-obtain, cost-effective animal welfare indicators has continued to grow. This interest has led to publications focusing on the relationship between DBVs and animal welfare. This review compiles 13 papers identified through a systematic literature search to provide an overview of the current state of research on the relationship between DBVs and dairy cow welfare at farm level. The selected papers were examined regarding their definition of animal welfare and classified according to this definition into three categories: (a) papers evaluating DBVs as predictors of animal welfare violations, (b) papers investigating the relationship between DBVs and animal-based measurements, and (c) papers investigating the relationship of DBVs to scores of welfare assessments like the Welfare Quality protocol or to overall welfare scores at farm level. In addition, associations between DBVs and indicators of animal welfare were extracted, grouped by the type of DBV, and examined for replications that may confirm the associations. All the identified studies demonstrated associations between DBVs and animal welfare. Overall, the first indications of a possible suitability of DBVs for predicting herds with animal welfare violations as well as good or poor animal welfare status were given. The evaluation of relationships between DBVs and animal-based measurements (ABMs) found mortality-based DBVs to be frequently associated with ABMs. However, owing to varying definitions of animal welfare, the use of different variants of DBVs, and different methods used to assess DBVs, the studies could only be compared to a limited extent. Future research would benefit from a harmonisation of DBVs and the use of valid measurements that reflect the multidimensionality of welfare. Data sources rarely investigated so far may have the potential to provide additional DBVs that can contribute to the monitoring of cow welfare at farm level.

Tail-docking and tail biting in pigs: Findings at the slaughterhouse in Portugal

Tail-docking is not accepted by European Union legislation as a routine measure to prevent tail biting in pigs. As part of systematic monitoring of animal welfare there is an increasing interest in recording tail damage in pigs at slaughter to identify problem farms. Tail biting lesions have been associated to causes of total condemnation in postmortem meat inspection. The goals of this study were to assess tail-docking and tail biting in slaughter pigs and to evaluate the association of tail lesions with meat inspection findings. The study was carried out at four pig slaughterhouses in the north of Portugal. Data was collected at the batch level during checks on food chain information, and at ante- and postmortem meat inspection. A total of 196 batches were screened. These batches covered 10,146 pigs: 4090 weaners (132 batches from 62 farms) and 6056 finishing pigs (64 batches from 43 farms). Of all the 196 batches, 88% were classified as tail-docked, corresponding to 100% of batches of finishing pigs and 83% of weaners. Tail lesions were scored according to a 3-level scale. During postmortem inspection, 84% pig carcasses (8566 out of 10,146) presented absence of tail lesions. Mild to moderate tail lesions (13%) were more frequent than severe ones (3%). Tail lesions, both mild and severe, were more prevalent (P>0.001) in weaners (13.1%, 3.5%) than in finishing pigs (12.7%, 2.1%). A total of 169 (1.7%) carcasses were condemned during postmortem inspection with the prevalence being higher in weaners (3.3%) than in finishing pigs (0.6%). The most frequent causes were poor body condition (31.4%), arthritis/polyarthritis (28.4%), and peritonitis (20.1%). No association between severity of tail lesions and postmortem condemnations was observed at the batch level, however a tendency for a higher proportion of postmortem condemnations in docked batches was found among weaners (P = 0.013). Further research with increased sample size and the analysis performed at the animal level is needed in order to confirm the observed tendencies. Recording information on tail lesions at the slaughterhouse is useful to gain information about general herd health, to support risk-based meat inspection and to assist farmers in welfare management plans.

Intelligent Perception-Based Cattle Lameness Detection and Behaviour Recognition: A Review.

Simple SummaryCattle lameness detection as well as behaviour recognition are the two main objectives in the applications of precision livestock farming (PLF). Over the last five years, the development of smart sensors, big data, and artificial intelligence has offered more automatic tools. In this review, we discuss over 100 papers that used automated techniques to detect cattle lameness and to recognise animal behaviours. To assist researchers and policy-makers in promoting various livestock technologies for monitoring cattle welfare and productivity, we conducted a comprehensive investigation of intelligent perception for cattle lameness detection and behaviour analysis in the PLF domain. Based on the literature review, we anticipate that PLF will develop in an objective, autonomous, and real-time direction. Additionally, we suggest that further research should be dedicated to improving the data quality, modeling accuracy, and commercial availability.The growing world population has increased the demand for animal-sourced protein. However, animal farming productivity is faced with challenges from traditional farming practices, socioeconomic status, and climate change. In recent years, smart sensors, big data, and deep learning have been applied to animal welfare measurement and livestock farming applications, including behaviour recognition and health monitoring. In order to facilitate research in this area, this review summarises and analyses some main techniques used in smart livestock farming, focusing on those related to cattle lameness detection and behaviour recognition. In this study, more than 100 relevant papers on cattle lameness detection and behaviour recognition have been evaluated and discussed. Based on a review and a comparison of recent technologies and methods, we anticipate that intelligent perception for cattle behaviour and welfare monitoring will develop towards standardisation, a larger scale, and intelligence, combined with Internet of things (IoT) and deep learning technologies. In addition, the key challenges and opportunities of future research are also highlighted and discussed.

Monitoring captive odontocetes’ participation during training sessions for improving training efficiency and welfare evaluation

In captive facilities, odontocetes are subject to daily training/feeding sessions which often create close relationships between animals and their caretakers. Therefore, such sessions are thought to provide information that can be useful for welfare assessment. Recent studies on bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) validated caretakers’ ratings of dolphins’ participation during training sessions as a welfare indicator. Even though their behavior, adaptation to captive settings or relationship with humans may differ from bottlenose dolphins, many other odontocete species remain much less studied. In the present study, animals from three groups including Yangtze finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis asiaeorientalis), East-Asian finless porpoises (Neophocaena asiaeorientalis sunameri), and bottlenose dolphins were monitored during training sessions. Four variables were recorded: a participation score rated by caretakers, the leaving rate, the amount of food eaten, and the propensity to finish the attributed food. Bottlenose dolphins participated better in sessions: they were attributed higher participation scores, departed less and finished their food more often than finless porpoises. The context of the sessions, including time of the day, season, type of session, social grouping, occurrence of unusual events or presence of visitors affected the parameters recorded during sessions in the three groups. The inter-species differences and the context-related variations of the four measured parameters should be used to adapt the schedules and techniques of training sessions for each group. Such adaptation could improve training effectiveness and the human-animal relationship. In addition, the associations among the four measured parameters and between these parameters and the animals’ displayed activity revealed the most informative parameter for each group: participation score for Yangtze finless porpoises, food intake for East-Asian finless porpoises and leaving rate for bottlenose dolphins. These parameters best reflect the motivation of the animals during sessions, and may therefore be beneficial to integrate into welfare monitoring tools.

Answer to Caravaggi et al. (2021)

We understand and share the same concerns raised by Caravaggi et al. (2021), since we are all scientists, and we take scientific rigour seriously in our work. The paper published by Araujo et al. (2021) had authorization for scientific activities issued by SISBIO/ICMBio/MMA (no. 46031-4) and it was approved by two Ethics Committee on Animal Use (Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul, no. 727/2015, and Federal University of Viçosa, no. 79/2015). Such authorizations were amended to the Acknowledgements in the version paged on 27 November 2020, before been assigned to an issue. In this way, the paper not only did not neglect ethics but was approved by three recognized research institutions. The authors of the questioned paper have been working for two or more decades generating data from free-living captures for conservation. Data on animal welfare, degree of injury, use of baits or attractants, response time, degree of risk to the animal and the team, among others, are systematically collected by experienced researchers from our group. Such data were part of the original manuscript but were removed when transformed into Practical Tools. We look forward to the opportunity of MEE to present this data in full, as our right of reply to Caravaggi et al. (2021) is limited to 3,000 characters. Some of the questions probably came from people with extreme theoretical knowledge. The statement that ‘Foot snares can pose a greater risk of injury to animals than cage traps’ clearly demonstrates little experience in the field. Cage traps are no longer the golden method to capture large felids due to low efficiency, higher costs, and risks of teeth and claw injuries. Araujo et al. (2021) describe several modifications and procedures that reduce the risk of injuries by foot snare traps. All the capture methods were evaluated not only by our researchers but also by Ethics Committees and Brazilian government agencies and were not neglected in this manuscript. Unfortunately, questions that come from theoretical extrapolations with no connection to the field reality can delay the conservation efforts and go against the One Conservation concept described by Pizzutto et al. (2021). Access to threatened species is the best way to generate data that allow a real diagnosis of the species in situ and suggests policies for its conservation. In the case of the jaguar, the greater the number of captures, the greater the chances of making the right decisions, and the greater the number of individual genetics collected and stored in germplasm banks. The isolation of populations and the extremely low number of jaguars in biomes such as the Caatinga and the Atlantic Forest justify the urgency of capturing. Fish broth and/or roar device were used as an attractant in 40 captures. In only one there was any injury to the animal: paw oedema, immediately treated by veterinarians and without compromising its health. The safety of the team is also a concern but taking some precautions such as not entering the area of imminent risk and paying attention to the presence of other animals reduces the chances of accidents to almost zero. Regarding animal welfare, the discussion should be based on the five domains model for animal welfare assessment and monitoring (Mellor et al., 2020), and foot snare traps do not compromise any physical/functional domains. Therefore, they do not promote negative mental experiences, as the rare, mild transient oedema in the paws does not compromise the ability to walk. The injury is much lighter than those that occur due to intraspecific and interspecific conflicts in nature. Furthermore, the anaesthetic protocol produces retrograde amnesia for the pre-anaesthetic period—eliminating negative mental experiences of the foot snare—and anterograde amnesia for the post-anaesthetic period (Gruber & Reed, 1968). Another strategy that reduces animal injuries and distress is frequent remote monitoring—at least every hour—allowing access to the animal within a maximum of 3 hours of capture. Finally, we believe that technical training combined with practical experience allows researchers to develop the intuition inherent in science. None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to declare. The peer review history for this article is available at https://publons.com/publon/10.1111/2041-210X.13706.

Potential applications of personality assessments to the management of non-human primates: a review of 10 years of study.

Studies of primate personality have become increasingly common over the past three decades. Recently, studies have begun to focus on the health, welfare and conservation implications of personality, and the potential applications of incorporating quantitative personality assessments into animal management programmes. However, this literature is dispersed across a multitude of settings and scientific disciplines. We conducted a review of nonhuman primate personality studies relevant to these issues published since 2010, following on from an earlier review. The databases ScienceDirect, PubMed and Web of Science were used to identify relevant articles. After eliminating irrelevant or duplicate papers, 69 studies were selected. Our review reveals that, while primate personality research is carried out on a range of species, there is strong taxonomic bias. While 28 species appeared within the reviewed literature, 52% of studies were carried out on just five species. Further, the most common research focus (43%) was validating new assessment methods or describing personality in different species, rather than exploring the links between personality and animal welfare using existing validated methods. However, among the remaining studies that did explore the role of animal personality in husbandry, health, and welfare, we identified progression towards integrating personality data into various aspects of animal management. Evidence suggests the assessment of personality may benefit social group management, enrichment practices, training protocols, health and welfare monitoring, and conservation planning for endangered species. We argue that further research which develops our understanding of primate personality and its influence in these areas will provide a valuable tool to inform animal management practices.

Qualitative Behavioral Assessment in Juvenile Farmed Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar): Potential for On-Farm Welfare Assessment.

There is a growing scientific and legislative consensus that fish are sentient, and therefore have the capacity to experience pain and suffering. The assessment of the welfare of farmed fish is challenging due to the aquatic environment and the number of animals housed together. However, with increasing global production and intensification of aquaculture comes greater impetus for developing effective tools which are suitable for the aquatic environment to assess the emotional experience and welfare of farmed fish. This study therefore aimed to investigate the use of Qualitative Behavioral Assessment (QBA), originally developed for terrestrial farmed animals, in farmed salmon and evaluate its potential for use as a welfare monitoring tool. QBA is a “whole animal” approach based on the description and quantification of the expressive qualities of an animal's dynamic style of behaving, using descriptors such as relaxed, agitated, lethargic, or confident. A list of 20 qualitative descriptors was generated by fish farmers after viewing video-footage showing behavior expressions representative of the full repertoire of salmon in this context. A separate, non-experienced group of 10 observers subsequently watched 25 video clips of farmed salmon, and scored the 20 descriptors for each clip using a Visual Analog Scale (VAS). To assess intra-observer reliability each observer viewed the same 25 video clips twice, in two sessions 10 days apart, with the second clip set presented in a different order. The observers were unaware that the two sets of video clips were identical. Data were analyzed using Principal Component (PC) Analysis (correlation matrix, no rotation), revealing four dimensions that together explained 79% of the variation between video clips, with PC1 (Tense/anxious/skittish—Calm/mellow/relaxed) explaining the greatest percentage of variation (56%). PC1 was the only dimension to show acceptable inter- and intra-observer reliability, and mean PC1 scores correlated significantly to durations of slow and erratic physical movements measured for the same 25 video clips. Further refinements to the methodology may be necessary, but this study is the first to provide evidence for the potential of Qualitative Behavioral Assessment to serve as a time-efficient welfare assessment tool for juvenile salmon under farmed conditions.

Neurohormonal Profiles of Assistance Dogs Compared to Pet Dogs: What Is the Impact of Different Lifestyles?

Simple SummaryDogs are currently involved in various roles in our society beyond companionship. The tasks humans assign to them impact their daily life and can sometimes create stressful situations, possibly jeopardizing their welfare. For example, assistance dogs need to manage their emotions in various challenging situations and environments. Thus, the capacity to cope with emotional stress is highly desirable in assistance dogs (~40% of assistance dogs fail to complete their education program). The emotional and stress responses are guided by brain processes involving neuromodulators. Neurohormonal profiling of these dogs can: (i) give cues about their emotional suitability to fulfill an assistance role; (ii) enhance their selection; and (iii) help to assess and improve their welfare state during the training course. We compared basal blood levels of three neuromodulators of interest between two populations, assistance vs. pet dogs. We found significantly different concentrations of oxytocin, a neuromodulator involved in social behavior. Levels of prolactin, a putative marker of chronic stress, were higher (although not statistically significant) and variable in assistance dogs. Dogs’ age also seemed to influence the various neuromodulators levels. These findings highlight the impact of different lifestyles undergone by dogs and the possibility to use neurohormonal profiling to monitor their effect on the dogs’ welfare and stress state.Assistance dogs must manage stress efficiently because they are involved in challenging tasks. Their welfare is currently a fundamental issue. This preliminary study aimed to compare assistance dogs (AD; n = 22) with pet dogs (PD; n = 24), using blood neuromodulator indicators to help find biomarkers that can improve the AD breeding, selection, training, and welfare monitoring. Both populations originated from different breeds, are of different ages, and had different lifestyles. Basal peripheral concentrations of prolactin (PRL), serotonin (5-HT), free (fOT) and total (tOT) oxytocin were measured by immunoassays. Multiple linear regressions were performed to assess the effect of activity, age, sex, and their interactions on these parameters. Correlations between neurohormonal levels were analyzed. No interactions were significant. fOT and tOT concentrations were significantly influenced by age (p < 0.0001 and p = 0.0002, respectively) and dogs’ activity (p = 0.0006 and p = 0.0277, respectively). A tendency was observed for age effect on PRL (p = 0.0625) and 5-HT (p = 0.0548), as well as for sex effect on tOT (p = 0.0588). PRL concentrations were heterogenous among AD. fOT and tOT were significantly but weakly correlated (Pearson’s r = 0.34; p = 0.04). Blood prolactin, serotonin, and oxytocin may represent biomarkers to assess workload and chronic stress-related responses in ADs and eventually improve their selection and training.

An evaluation of thermal imaging as a welfare monitoring tool for captive chimpanzees.

Among the growing list of novel tools with which to assess animal welfare is the use of thermal (infrared) imaging. The technology has already been utilized to identify emotional arousal in several nonhuman primate species, though most of these approaches have necessitated the use of relatively controlled settings. Here, we were interested to determine the feasibility of such techniques in a sanctuary setting in which chimpanzees were unrestrained and able to move freely around their enclosures. Furthermore, we sought to evaluate how such thermal images could be paired with corresponding long-term behavioral data and contribute to a multifactorial welfare monitoring system. Over a 6-month period, we simultaneously collected both behavioral and thermographic data on 29 chimpanzees living in four social groups. While we took a thermal image with every behavioral data point, we found that only a small proportion (6.38%) of the thermal images we captured were of sufficient quality to analyze. Most of these usable thermal images (55%) corresponded with a behavioral observation scored as "inactive," and thus other, less frequent behaviors are not so well represented in our final data set. From our data set, we were able to determine that nasal temperatures were relatively lower when chimpanzees were categorized in active behaviors compared to inactive behaviors, providing some validity measures to our approach. While there are other potential applications for thermal imaging in the behavioral management of chimpanzees, managers should consider the practical limitations of developing long-term welfare monitoring programs that rely on thermographic data.

Vocal correlates of arousal in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops spp.) in human care.

Human-controlled regimes can entrain behavioural responses and may impact animal welfare. Therefore, understanding the influence of schedules on animal behaviour can be a valuable tool to improve welfare, however information on behaviour overnight and in the absence of husbandry staff remains rare. Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops spp.) are highly social marine mammals and the most common cetacean found in captivity. They communicate using frequency modulated signature whistles, a whistle type that is individually distinctive and used as a contact call. We investigated the vocalisations of ten dolphins housed in three social groups at uShaka Sea World dolphinarium to determine how patterns in acoustic behaviour link to dolphinarium routines. Investigation focused on overnight behaviour, housing decisions, weekly patterns, and transitional periods between the presence and absence of husbandry staff. Recordings were made from 17h00 – 07h00 over 24 nights, spanning May to August 2018. Whistle (including signature whistle) presence and production rate decreased soon after husbandry staff left the facility, was low over night, and increased upon staff arrival. Results indicated elevated arousal states particularly associated with the morning feeding regime. Housing in the pool configuration that allowed observation of staff activities from all social groups was characterised by an increase in whistle presence and rates. Heightened arousal associated with staff presence was reflected in the structural characteristics of signature whistles, particularly maximum frequency, frequency range and number of whistle loops. We identified individual differences in both production rate and the structural modification of signature whistles under different contexts. Overall, these results revealed a link between scheduled activity and associated behavioural responses, which can be used as a baseline for future welfare monitoring where changes from normal behaviour may reflect shifts in welfare state.

Calibrating accelerometer data, as a promising tool for health and welfare monitoring in aquaculture: Case study in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) in conventional or organic aquaculture

Both the conventional and organic aquaculture sectors have grown rapidly over the past few years. Moreover, welfare has attracted increased attention on the part of both consumers and governments. However, fish welfare assessment is complex and thus needs to adapt measurements that are easily applicable to aquaculture conditions. In this study, in addition to classical welfare indicator measurements (physiological stress indicators and growth performance), we recorded the swimming activity data using acoustic transmitters to evaluate the welfare of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) fed a conventional vs. an organic diet. Prior feeding trial, the swimming activity recorded by tag has been calibrated with water speed during critical swimming speed (Ucrit) tests. This calibration allowed us to increase the power of the recorded data, providing information on swimming activity with respect to the Ucrit value and on the metabolic cost of swimming. After a four-month experimental period, physiological stress indicators and growth performance did not differ significantly between the two diet groups. However, we observed a subtle difference in swimming activity: the fish in the organic diet group were more active during the feeding period in the morning. All indicators considered, our results suggest that an organic diet does not incur higher metabolic costs and does not affect the welfare of the European sea bass. Moreover, this study shows that the use of acoustic transmitters previously calibrated with physiological indicators, such as Ucrit, is a promising tool for welfare monitoring in aquaculture conditions.

Emerging indicators of fish welfare in aquaculture

AbstractAs aquaculture continues to grow and intensify, there is an increasing public concern over the welfare of farmed fish. Stress and production‐related pathologies and repressed growth are examples of the challenges facing aquaculture, and their impacts could be minimised by effective identification of the early signs of impaired welfare. Many welfare monitoring methods have been recommended; however, continuous and reliable welfare monitoring in aquaculture is not yet widespread and commonplace. The aim of this scoping review was to present an overview of the most recent developments in fish welfare assessments with a specific focus on practical translation to the aquaculture industry. A keyword‐based search was undertaken to identify peer‐reviewed papers published between 2014 and 2020 in which a novel method with the potential to be used for the assessment of fish welfare in aquaculture was introduced. The results were sorted into two categories: non‐invasive and invasive methods. All methods were assessed for their advantages and disadvantages, potential applicability to aquaculture. Invasive methods were also ranked on their degree of impact. It is concluded that increased interest into fish welfare, in combination with more intelligent modern technology, has resulted in the development of newer and more refined alternatives to traditional methods of welfare assessment such as behaviour monitoring by 2D cameras and plasma cortisol evaluation. Although, in many cases, more research is needed before these methods are suitable for widespread industry use, studies that focus on increasing the precision, automation and practical applicability of these methods are a promising avenue for future research.

Using touchscreen-delivered cognitive assessments to address the principles of the 3Rs in behavioral sciences.

Despite considerable advances in both in silico and in vitro approaches, in vivo studies that involve animal model systems remain necessary in many research disciplines. Neuroscience is one such area, with studies often requiring access to a complete nervous system capable of dynamically selecting between and then executing a full range of cognitive and behavioral outputs in response to a given stimulus or other manipulation. The involvement of animals in research studies is an issue of active public debate and concern and is therefore carefully regulated. Such regulations are based on the principles of the 3Rs of Replacement, Reduction and Refinement. In the sub-specialty of behavioral neuroscience, Full/Absolute Replacement remains a major challenge, as the complete ex vivo recapitulation of a system as complex and dynamic as the nervous system has yet to be achieved. However, a number of very positive developments have occurred in this area with respect to Relative Replacement and to both Refinement and Reduction. In this review, we discuss the Refinement- and Reduction-related benefits yielded by the introduction of touchscreen-based behavioral assessment apparatus. We also discuss how data generated by a specific panel of behavioral tasks developed for this platform might substantially enhance monitoring of laboratory animal welfare and provide robust, quantitative comparisons of husbandry techniques to define and ensure maintenance of best practice.

Application of YOLOv4 for Detection and Motion Monitoring of Red Foxes.

Simple SummaryThe use of surveillance videos of animals is an important method for monitoring them, as animals often behave differently in the presence of humans. Moreover, the presence of humans can be a source of stress for the animals and can lead to changes in behavior. Extensive video material of red foxes has been recorded as part of a vaccine study. Since manual analysis of videos is both time-consuming and costly, we performed an analysis using a computer vision application in the present study. This made it possible to automatically analyze the videos and monitor animal activity and residency patterns without human interference. In this study, we used the computer vision architecture ‘you only look once’ version 4 (YOLOv4) to detect foxes and monitor their movement and, thus, their activity. Computer vision thereby outperforms manual and sensor-based exhaustive monitoring of the animals.Animal activity is an indicator for its welfare and manual observation is time and cost intensive. To this end, automatic detection and monitoring of live captive animals is of major importance for assessing animal activity, and, thereby, allowing for early recognition of changes indicative for diseases and animal welfare issues. We demonstrate that machine learning methods can provide a gap-less monitoring of red foxes in an experimental lab-setting, including a classification into activity patterns. Therefore, bounding boxes are used to measure fox movements, and, thus, the activity level of the animals. We use computer vision, being a non-invasive method for the automatic monitoring of foxes. More specifically, we train the existing algorithm ‘you only look once’ version 4 (YOLOv4) to detect foxes, and the trained classifier is applied to video data of an experiment involving foxes. As we show, computer evaluation outperforms other evaluation methods. Application of automatic detection of foxes can be used for detecting different movement patterns. These, in turn, can be used for animal behavioral analysis and, thus, animal welfare monitoring. Once established for a specific animal species, such systems could be used for animal monitoring in real-time under experimental conditions, or other areas of animal husbandry.

Longitudinal national-level monitoring of on-farm broiler welfare identifies consistently poorly performing farms

A range of welfare outcome measures relating to on-farm welfare are monitored in UK slaughterhouses to check compliance with the European Broiler Directive. A national dataset from 438,155 batches of chickens between 2010 and 2014 and from 228,795 batches between 2016 and 2018 was analysed. The data contained information about 3.1 billion chickens. The highest mean proportion for a single condition was for ascites/oedema in 2016–2018 at 0.384%, affecting 3.9 million chickens/year sent to slaughter during that time, followed by abnormal colour/fevered at 0.324%, affecting 3.4 million chickens/year. Identifying farms most likely to have poor welfare is an important strategy for improving animal welfare overall, and for maximising the capacity for checking regulatory compliance when resources are limited. We found a greater proportion of broiler farms overall remained consistently in the best quartile (16.4%) rather than the worst quartile (6.6%). Farms that exceeded a Government ‘trigger’ threshold for poor welfare were significantly more likely to subsequently improve than ‘non-trigger’ farms, although they usually remained in the worst performing quartile of farms.

Using Expert Elicitation to Abridge the Welfare Quality® Protocol for Monitoring the Most Adverse Dairy Cattle Welfare Impairments.

The Welfare Quality® consortium has developed and proposed standard protocols for monitoring farm animal welfare. The uptake of the dairy cattle protocol has been below expectation, however, and it has been criticized for the variable quality of the welfare measures and for a limited number of measures having a disproportionally large effect on the integrated welfare categorization. Aiming for a wide uptake by the milk industry, we revised and simplified the Welfare Quality® protocol into a user-friendly tool for cost- and time-efficient on-farm monitoring of dairy cattle welfare with a minimal number of key animal-based measures that are aggregated into a continuous (and thus discriminative) welfare index (WI). The inevitable subjective decisions were based upon expert opinion, as considerable expertise about cattle welfare issues and about the interpretation, importance, and validity of the welfare measures was deemed essential. The WI is calculated as the sum of the severity score (i.e., how severely a welfare problem affects cow welfare) multiplied with the herd prevalence for each measure. The selection of measures (lameness, leanness, mortality, hairless patches, lesions/swellings, somatic cell count) and their severity scores were based on expert surveys (14–17 trained users of the Welfare Quality® cattle protocol). The prevalence of these welfare measures was assessed in 491 European herds. Experts allocated a welfare score (from 0 to 100) to 12 focus herds for which the prevalence of each welfare measure was benchmarked against all 491 herds. Quadratic models indicated a high correspondence between these subjective scores and the WI (R2 = 0.91). The WI allows both numerical (0–100) as a qualitative (“not classified” to “excellent”) evaluation of welfare. Although it is sensitive to those welfare issues that most adversely affect cattle welfare (as identified by EFSA), the WI should be accompanied with a disclaimer that lists adverse or favorable effects that cannot be detected adequately by the current selection of measures.

In-barn heterogeneity of broiler chicken welfare in two industrial house designs and two seasons in Southern Brazilian subtropical climate

The science of animal welfare is key to improving the life quality of billions of chickens, by supporting decisions through the assessment of environmental and animal-based indicators in different conditions. Our goal was to assess the variation of bird welfare within the same barn and whether this variation depends on barn type or season. We described and compared the in-barn heterogeneity of broiler chicken welfare in four closed-sided (CS) and 13 open-sided (OS) industrial poultry houses, during two different seasons (summer/autumn and winter). The measures were divided into two categories: 1) environmental indicators: relative humidity, temperature, air velocity, ammonia (NH3) and carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations, and illuminance; 2) animal-based indicators: contact dermatitis on the breast and abdominal areas, bird soiling, footpad dermatitis, hock burn, and lameness. The results of assessments in 30 equidistant locations, covering the whole inside area of each barn, were organized into kriging maps. Linear regression and generalized models were fitted, considering predictor variables and the interaction effect between them; the Tukey test was used for the multiple comparisons of means. We used geostatistical modelling for continuous and discrete data for environmental and animal-based measurements, respectively. In-barn heterogeneity was observed for the prevalence of environmental and animal-based problems. There was a pattern for the spatial distribution, heading from the house centre to the West end of both house types, with worse results for three environmental indicators (higher temperature, and NH3 and CO2 concentrations) and three animal-based indicators (higher prevalence of hock burn, bird soiling and footpad dermatitis). In CS, illuminance was very restrictive (4.4 to 6.7 lx) when compared to OS houses (119.8 to 145.3 lx); in both house types the prevalence of lameness was high (50.9 to 78.0%), even though both illuminance and lameness prevalence were evenly distributed inside all houses. The kriging maps allowed for the identification of worse welfare problems in the West direction, which in CS means near exhaust fans and in OS houses the direction of positive-pressure mechanical ventilation by fans. Our results show that attention is needed for the variation of bird welfare conditions inside each barn, and allow for the adoption of strategies to spread best conditions throughout the internal barn area in both house designs. Principally, the original findings on in-barn bird welfare heterogeneity suggest the relevance of constant bird welfare monitoring in key locations within the barns, minimally for the indicators with known different in-barn spatial distributions.

Animal welfare indicators for sheep during sea transport: Monitoring health and behaviour

The welfare of sheep transported by sea is a pertinent issue for Australia’s agriculture industry and a subject of concern amongst the general public. Evaluating the effect of sea transport on the welfare of livestock requires an accurate system of reporting. This study piloted an animal welfare monitoring protocol during two sea voyages from Australia to the Middle East. Sheep health and behaviour were analysed to determine if the protocol could detect animal responses to voyage conditions such as feeding management and changes to the pen environment. Data were recorded for target pens of five different commercial lines of Merino sheep. Principle Components (PC) analysis on behavioural data identified three principal components which were compared with voyage day, management and environmental conditions using general linear mixed modelling (GLMM). PC factor 1 scores (23.35 % of total variance) showed that resting and recumbency increased as the voyage progressed. PC factor 2 scores (17.09 % variance) demonstrated that behavioural responses to heat fluctuated by voyage day. PC factor 3 scores (9.48 % variance) showed reduced flight distances and increasingly competitive feeding behaviour as the voyage progressed. Environment and management conditions were associated with behavioural changes, with Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) being the most influential measure affecting all three PC factors (p < 0.001). There were few diseases or symptoms of ill-health (including veterinary treatments) or mortalities recorded for sample pens; however, associations between ill-health and nutrition, environmental conditions and behaviour, were identified using GLMM. Increases in WBGT were linked to increased nasal discharge (p < 0.001), ocular discharge (p < 0.05), pink eye (p < 0.05) and Panting Score 4 (p < 0.01). With few recordings of ill-health, and a low mortality incidence, it was difficult to interpret the results of comparisons between health and behaviour. It is likely that associations between health indicators and behavioural variations will be more meaningful if a welfare monitoring protocol were applied to a larger sample size. The pen-side assessments presented in this study provided a practicable and comprehensive system for monitoring the behaviour and health of sheep during sea voyages. The application of such assessments on an industry basis could better inform all stakeholders about the welfare of sheep during sea transport.

Visual identification of individual Holstein-Friesian cattle via deep metric learning

Holstein-Friesian cattle exhibit individually-characteristic black and white coat patterns visually akin to those arising from Turing’s reaction-diffusion systems. This work takes advantage of these natural markings in order to automate visual detection and biometric identification of individual Holstein-Friesians via convolutional neural networks and deep metric learning techniques. Existing approaches rely on markings, tags or wearables with a variety of maintenance requirements, whereas we present a totally hands-off method for the automated detection, localisation, and identification of individual animals from overhead imaging in an open herd setting, i.e. where new additions to the herd are identified without re-training. We find that deep metric learning systems show strong performance even when many cattle unseen during system training are to be identified and re-identified – achieving 93.8% accuracy when trained on just half of the population. This work paves the way for facilitating the non-intrusive monitoring of cattle applicable to precision farming and surveillance for automated productivity, health and welfare monitoring, and to veterinary research such as behavioural analysis, disease outbreak tracing, and more. Key parts of the source code, network weights and underpinning datasets are available publicly (OpenCows2020).

Evaluation of Oxidative Stress in Blood of Domestic Chickens and Eurasian Magpies (Pica pica).

A physiological equilibrium exists between pro- and antioxidant factors. When the oxidant factors exceed the capacity of their removal or inactivation, oxidative stress (OS) occurs. The OS levels were assayed in plasma obtained from 2 bird species. Blood samples were collected from 20 healthy domestic chicken hens, 10 living in an intensive farming environment and 10 free-range, and from 18 healthy Eurasian magpies (Pica pica; 7 females and 11 males, with an estimated age of >1 year of age). For OS biomarker assessment, the determinable reactive oxygen metabolites (d-ROMs) were measured, and the plasmatic antioxidant test (PAT) was performed; the OS index (OSI) was then calculated (d-ROMs/PAT × 1000) as a parameter of overall oxidative stress. Moreover, lipid peroxidation was assessed by measuring plasmatic malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. A hematological evaluation was also performed on each bird with a hemocytometer, on which a blood sample was placed to obtain both a total and differential white blood cell (WBC) count. In hens, OSI and MDA levels were significantly higher (P = .04, and P = .004) in subjects from intensive farming (14.7 ± 7.1 and 27.2 ± 10.4 nmol/mL) than in those bred in rural conditions (5.6 ± 10.3 and 8.2 ± 13.3 nmol/mL). In magpies, a positive correlation between the total WBC count and OS was found, and both d-ROMs and OSI were significantly higher (P = .03) in subjects with a total WBC count greater than the median value (20.4 × 103 cells/µL) with respect to those with a total WBC count less than the median value. The results generated from this study indicate that higher OS levels occurred in hens bred in an intensive indoor farm environment compared with outdoor free-range conditions. Possibly the higher OS levels could be related to the higher stocking density and dust levels found in the indoor facility. Additionally, the correlation between OS biomarker levels in magpies and total WBC count suggests that OS level is influenced by immune response, in agreement with previous studies. Collectively, present data seem to be promising for the application of OS measurement in avian medicine for health and animal welfare monitoring.