The objective of the present study was to assess the sensitivity and feasibility of the Welfare Quality® (WQ) protocol for finishing pigs in 10 Spanish slaughterhouses. Sensitivity refers to the ability of the WQ assessment system to discriminate between slaughter conditions whilst feasibility denotes that the protocol is concise and easy to implement. On arrival at the plant, the incidence of dead, sick and panting animals was assessed in 1,002 (± 93) pigs per abattoir. During unloading, the percentage of pigs that slipped, fell, showed reluctance to move or turned back and were lame was also assessed. In the lairage pens, the stocking density and the percentage of pigs that were panting, shivering, and huddling was assessed in a total of 346 (± 81.0) pigs per abattoir. Stunning effectiveness, slaughter checks and skin lesions were also assessed in 60 animals per abattoir. For the majority of measures, any differences between slaughterhouses were found to be attributable to the installation itself and the management of the slaughterhouse, such as generalised fear, slipping and falling or stunning effectiveness, as opposed to measures taken to assess transport conditions or farm origin, such as lameness or sick and dead animals. The study protocol took 5.5 h for one observer to complete, in a slaughterhouse killing more than 550,000 pigs a year, although this time could increase dramatically in smaller abattoirs due to delays in the arrival of lorries. The protocol provides a general overview of the state of welfare of animals at the slaughterhouse and can readily identify specific problems in certain areas, such as stunning of animals.

This study investigated whether short-time stroking of loose-housed dairy cows in the daily farm routine could improve the cow-human relationship and consequently decrease avoidance distances, and whether this effect was persistent. Thirty-one cows (from two different breeds: Holstein Friesian and German Red Pied) received either a treatment (STROKING; n = 15) or no treatment (CONTROL; n = 16). In the STROKING group, each animal was stroked during morning and evening milking by an unfamiliar individual (experimenter) for 3 min over a 5-day period (Treatment 1) and again, 4 weeks later, over a 3.5-day period (Treatment 2). CONTROL animals could observe the experimenter during milking. Before and after treatment, the experimenter recorded the avoidance distances of cows (distance of first withdrawal when approached from the front) at the feeding place (AVOIDfeed) and in the barn (AVOIDbarn). Prior to Treatment 1, CONTROL and STROKING animals did not differ in AVOIDfeed or in AVOIDbarn. After Treatment 1, AVOIDfeed was significantly lower in STROKING animals compared to CONTROL animals. With regard to AVOIDbarn, no significant difference was found between STROKING animals and CONTROL animals after Treatment 1. After 4 weeks, before Treatment 2, CONTROL and STROKING animals did not differ significantly anymore in AVOIDfeed. After Treatment 2, AVOIDfeed was again significantly lower in STROKING animals than in CONTROL animals. Also, in the barn, (AVOIDbarn), STROKING animals avoided the experimenter less than CONTROL animals after Treatment 2. In terms of within-group evolution of avoidance distances, AVOIDfeed of CONTROL animals did not decrease in the course of the two treatments. Only after Treatment 2 were avoidance distances at the feeding place of STROKING animals significantly lower than initial avoidance distances. AVOIDbarn of CONTROL animals decreased after Treatment 1 but did not decrease significantly after Treatment 2. AVOIDbarn of STROKING animals decreased significantly after Treatment 1 and again after Treatment 2. It is suggested that short-time stroking during milking can affect the responses of cows to humans positively, although our results question the amount of contact necessary: even more contact might be required for lasting effects.

A welfare assessment method was built, based on criteria related to behaviour, lesion scores and human/animal interactions, and tested thereafter in two main types of farms differing by their type of floor: either concrete, fully or partially slatted (C; n = 42) or straw bedding (S; n = 40). Observations were carried out on 40 to 60 pigs per room for three periods (90, 130 and 162 days of age, respectively, for P1, P2 and P3). Behaviour was assessed through five scans with a two-minute interval between two successive observations. Each behaviour was expressed in relation to the total amount of active behaviours. Injuries were scored on a three-level scale (none, mild, severe). Social behaviour was significantly more important at P1 whereas behaviours related to disturbance were more frequently observed at P3. Bursitis did not differ significantly between periods in S farms but did so in C over time. Small differences were seen between periods for injuries: severe lesions (scratches) and lameness were rare on the different flooring systems and severe wounds and tail lesions were less frequent in S than in C farms. Investigation of the environment was more pronounced on S floors, whereas positive social behaviour was more prevalent in C. All criteria studied were characterised by a noticeable variability in both floor types, showing room for improvement in terms of animal welfare in some farms.

This research project was carried out by the Swedish Dairy Association as part of the development of a ‘Scheme for Animal Welfare’. As a first step, on-farm, animal-based measurements on calves, young stock and cows in 55 randomly selected herds were performed. Nine animal-based measurements formed the basis for a classification of welfare at the herd level: cleanliness and body condition in calves, cows and young stock, in combination with lameness, injuries/inflammations and rising behaviour which were recorded for cows only. The threshold (gold standard) for being a case herd with poor welfare, was a score lying among the worst 10% on two or more of the nine welfare measurements. Thirteen of the 55 herds were cases fitting this criterion. As a second step, 65 potential welfare indicators from seven different focus areas in a pre-collected data register were identified by expert opinion. In the final step, the extent to which suggested potential welfare indicators predicted farms’ risk of having poor welfare according to the definition was assessed. The final set of welfare indicators, taken from the national dairy database, included two fertility measures and calf mortality, and it correctly classified 77% of the herds, with a sensitivity of 0.62. The inclusion of cow and young stock mortality led to it correctly classifying 76% of the herds with a sensitivity of 0.77. We propose that this approach could be useful in helping to allocate advisory services to farms at risk of poor welfare.

EU-Directive 1999/74/EC stipulates that furnished cages and non-cage systems for laying hens should be provided with perches. This Directive allows for a wide variety in perch design features possibly affecting perch use and hen health. Perch material and shape mainly affect slipperiness and grip quality and, in this regard, plastic, metal and circular perches are inferior. The incidence of bumble-foot and keel bone deformities can be influenced by perch shape. Perch shapes which reduce localised pressure on the foot pad and the keel-bone are recommended. Several aspects of the arrangement of the perches in the cage or non-cage system are also important. A consistent preference for high perches is seen, provided there is a minimal distance of 19–24 cm between perch and roof. Accessibility of high perches should be ensured, for example by incorporating lower level perches from which hens can reach the higher levels. Such multi-height perch designs also allow behavioural differentiation according to perch height (with most passive behaviour on the higher perches). In non-cage systems, good accessibility can be achieved by minimising the angles between perches at different heights to smaller than 45° and by limiting the distance between horizontal perches to 1 m. The legislated minimum perch length provided per hen (15 cm) adequately allows for synchronised roosting behaviour on straight perches. However, in crosswise perch designs, hens require more perch length per hen as the area close to the cross cannot be used optimally.

In most parts of the world, male pigs are castrated shortly after birth to prevent the production of meat with an unpleasant odour called ‘boar taint’. However, public concerns regarding surgical castration are on the increase and it is becoming an important animal welfare issue due to the pain associated with the process. In addition, pork production from entire males is more desirable as it is 5-12% more efficient than that from castrates. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate genetic opportunities to stop castration and produce boar-taint-free pork from entire males as a long-term cost-effective solution to the problem. The main compounds responsible for boar taint are androstenone and skatole. The genetic aspects of these two main boar-taint components were investigated in purebred pigs of a commercial sire line as well as crossbreds of three sire lines. The comparison of crossbreds suggests that significant genetic differences can be expected in the market hogs due to different sire line choices. Heritabilities for the three components ranged from 0.25 to 0.64. Their genetic correlations with production traits were close to zero or favourable. Model calculations using these parameters suggest that it is possible to reduce the concentrations of the main boar-taint components below thresholds for boar taint. This way, pork can be produced from males without castration and problems of boar taint can be eliminated in approximately four generations of genetic selection.

Animals have various behavioural and physiological needs that are important for welfare. Fulfilment of these needs depends on the quality of housing, management and animal characteristics. The objective of this study was to develop a model to assign welfare scores to husbandry systems for dairy cattle, based on scientific results, and thereby supporting the design of new, welfare-friendly systems. COWEL is a computer-based decision support system that contains attributes regarding housing and management conditions. These attributes are technical specifications that contain various technical units called levels. These levels are ranked from best-to-worst regarding welfare, based on scientific information about animal-based parameters. This information, inserted in the model as statements, was weighted depending on the impact it has on welfare by using weighting categories. Thereafter, a weighting factor was calculated for each attribute which determines how important an attribute is for welfare. The COWEL model contains 2,343 statements on dairy cattle welfare from 476 sources found during a literature survey. The model was applied to four husbandry systems, namely a tie-stall, cubicle housing, a straw yard and a pasture-based system. The welfare scores, calculated by COWEL for these husbandry systems, correspond with the general opinion about these systems. A tie-stall receives a low and a pasture-based system a high welfare score: 211 and 271, respectively. A husbandry system can receive a maximum of 313 on the welfare scale of COWEL. We conclude that COWEL can be used to rank husbandry systems on a welfare scale, and may be a useful tool to develop new, sustainable and welfare-friendly systems for dairy cattle.

Freedom from thirst has been long considered of paramount importance for animal welfare, however a feasible and sensitive animal-based indicator to assess thirst, on-farm or at-slaughter, is not available. In this study, voluntary water consumption over time was investigated and validated as a non-invasive behavioural parameter for assessing thirst in broiler chickens. Thirty-two groups of four broilers were used in this study and the effect of three factors on water consumption from a test drinker was investigated: duration of water deprivation (0, 6, 12, or 24 h); familiarity with the test drinker, and age (35 or 37 days). Water consumption was measured after 30, 60, 90 and 120 min following the deprivation period. Water consumption increased with the length of the deprivation period and was greater in birds that had been habituated to the test drinker. The effect of familiarity was smaller for 24-h deprived groups compared to 6- and 12-h deprived groups. When birds were habituated to the drinker, they started to drink sooner than when the drinker was new. These findings illustrate the potential of simple, animal-based measures, such as water consumption over time to assess thirst in chickens and this behavioural test may form the basis of an on-farm test that could be included in integrated animal welfare assessment schemes.